CAN XFL REWRITE SPRING FOOTBALL HISTORY?
Many leagues have tried to co-exist with all-powerful NFL and many have failed
Here we go again …
Another outdoor pro football venture is set to kick off south of the border on Saturday, with the likelihood being that it will fold shortly thereafter.
Just how long will the XFL 2.0 last?
Six weeks? That’s how long it took for the Alliance of American Football to die a sudden death last spring.
Perhaps a season or two? If history has taught us anything, it will likely be a bust sooner rather than later. Upstart leagues in recent years have had a shorter shelf life than new loops that came onto the scene 30 and 40 years ago.
The National Football League has a massive foothold in the football world these days, unlike the days of the World Football League, the USFL and the World League of American Football.
And the Canadian Football League, which is feeling barely a ripple — especially throughout its rosters from last season — from the revised XFL, just keeps on trucking, despite all its challenges throughout the decades.
With that, let’s take a walk back through history to look at contending leagues that came to life and then folded since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970.
WORLD FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Twelve teams embarked to rival the NFL in a brash but shortlived journey called the World Football League only four years after the massive merger.
The WFL alarmed its more established rivals on many levels, especially with its ability to sign away more than 70 NFL players during its time with big salary promises.
Among the league’s founders was Canadian entrepreneur
John F. Bassett, whose family owned the World Hockey Association’s Toronto Toros and the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts
Bassett came aboard with the Toronto Northmen and inked household names in running back Larry Csonka and receiver Paul Warfield from the NFL’s
Miami Dolphins.
But the Northmen never played in Toronto, being relocated before their first kick to become the Memphis Southmen after a threat from the Canadian government — in a bid to protect the CFL — essentially prevented the WFL from playing in Canada.
The WFL’s 1974 kickoff also included a team in Hawaii, but the league didn’t last even two campaigns before financial ruin — reports say some players didn’t even get paid — and settlements reached by the CFL and the NFL with their striking players — ended its brief run.
WFL (1974-75)
Inaugural teams: Birmingham Americans; Chicago Fire; Detroit Wheels; Florida Blazers; The Hawaiians; Houston Texans; Jacksonville Sharks; Memphis Southmen; New York Stars; Philadelphia Bell; Portland Storm, Southern California Sun
Average game attendance (1974/1975): 21,423/13,931 Average salary: N/A
Other facts: 20-game regular season in 1974; broadcasts by TVS Television Network; yellow footballs; helped raise NFL salaries
UNITED STATES FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The USFL hit the football landscape in 1983 with a running start. Certainly it was enough to give the NFL reasons to be worried.
It attracted many of the game’s biggest players, including three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners in Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie and Mike Rozier, and sported a solid business plan thanks to the man behind the league inauguration, David Dixon, who was also owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
Again there was a Canadian connection in Bassett, who owned the Tampa Bay Bandits.
Another owner who came along in Year 2 was Donald Trump, who signed Flutie to quarterback his New Jersey Generals and then pushed to make the USFL a fall football loop in 1986 in direct competition with the NFL.
That 1986 season never came to fruition, as the circuit went belly up before then, thanks in part — say critics — to Trump’s push.
In the end, the USFL lost a whopping $163 million during its existence and didn’t benefit from a minuscule $3 antitrust lawsuit victory over the NFL.
And Trump was painted by many as the reason for the league’s ultimate failure.
USFL (1983-85)
Inaugural teams: Arizona Wranglers; Birmingham Stallions; Boston Breakers; Chicago Blitz; Denver Gold; Los Angeles Express; Michigan Panthers; New Jersey Generals; Oakland Invaders; Philadelphia Stars; Tampa Bay Bandits; Washington Federals
Average game attendance (1983/1985): 25,031/24,375 Average salary: N/A
Other facts: 18-game regular season; broadcasts by ABC Sports and ESPN; two-point conversion rule (already in use in CFL and adopted in 1994 by NFL); adopted instant replay; helped raise NFL salaries
WORLD LEAGUE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Believe it or not — and we’re having troubles believing it — the World League of American Football (with the most unfortunate acronym of WLAF, or WLaugh as most of us labelled it) hung around after its inauguration in 1991 for 17 years.
Upon closer inspection, the World League was really just a two-year fad in North America. And it was no rival to the National Football League. Instead, it was a spring developmental league for the NFL.
The World League opened with 10 teams, including three in Europe and the Montreal Machine in Canada.
But the WLAF didn’t last long, taking a two-year hiatus following its first two seasons after losing $7 million in 1991 and losing the financial support of the NFL owners in 1992.
It returned in 1995, but was gone from North America, operating only in six cities in Europe for another three years.
WLAF (1991-92, 1995-97) Inaugural teams: Birmingham Fire; Sacramento Surge; San Antonio Riders; Montreal Machine; New York/New Jersey Knights; Orlando Thunder; Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks; Barcelona Dragons; Frankfurt Galaxy; London Monarchs Average game attendance (1991/1997): 25,361/18,214 Average salary (1991): $40,000 Other facts: 10-game regular season; broadcasts by USA Network, ABC Sports and RDS (Machine) in 1991-92; broadcasts by Fox Sports (on FX (1995-97) and Fox (1995-97)); broadcasts by NFL Network (2005-07); 35 seconds between plays; mandatory no-huddle offences; helmet-mounted cameras; one-way radio communication from
sidelines to quarterback
NFL EUROPE LEAGUE
The World League rebranded itself as NFL Europe in 1998 and lasted a whopping 10 seasons (who knew!) with the final campaign in 2007 having been rebranded — again — as NFL Europa.
But it was just that — an all-Europe loop. By the final season, it’s no wonder the league wasn’t rebranded as ‘NFL Germany’ or ‘NFL Deutschland,’ with five of the six franchises calling that country home.
Reports said the league lost about $30 million per season before calling it quits in the wake of the 2007 World Bowl in Frankfurt.
NFL Europe/Europa (1998-2007) Inaugural teams: Frankfurt Galaxy; Rhein Fire; Amsterdam Admirals; Barcelona Dragons; England Monarchs; Scottish Claymores
Average game attendance (1998/2007): 16,634/20,020 Average salary (2005): $18,500 for quarterbacks; $13,500 for every other position player
Other facts: 10-game regular season; broadcasts by Fox Sports (on FX (1998), Fox (1998-2005) and Fox Sports Net (1999-2004)); broadcasts by NFL Network (2005-07); trained coaching interns and game officials; testing ground for possible NFL rule changes
XTREME FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The XFL was bold and brash, backed by a couple of pillars in the sports and entertainment industry.
With the WWE’s Vince McMahon and NBC’s Dick Ebersol spearheading the project, it had enough backing to get the attention of football fans — about 14 million viewers on opening night.
It was further hyped by what McMahon boasted would be aggressive football with attitude.
It was certainly that, but to many fans, it became more gimmicky than anything else, and the XFL began to lose money at an alarming rate.
By year’s end, reports pinpointed losses at $35 million for both co-owners, the WWF and NBC, and a second season would never see the field.
XFL (2001)
Inaugural teams: Orlando Rage; Chicago Enforcers; New York/ New Jersey Hitmen; Birmingham Thunderbolts; Los Angeles Xtreme; San Francisco Demons; Memphis Maniax; Las Vegas Outlaws
Average game attendance: 23,410 Average salary: $3,500 to $5,000 per week
Other facts: 10-game regular season; broadcasts by NBC; game-opening sprint to determine ball possession; no point-after kick; automatic two-point convert attempt; nicknames on backs of jerseys So here we are a year later with the XFL 2.0. The XFL is back with McMahon again leading the charge.
But this time, the league returns with less gimmicks. It wants to speed up the game — make it faster than the NFL — with a 25-second clock and a boost in offence.
And it intends to stick around for awhile.
“No one has a trademark on good ideas — we can learn from everybody,” said XFL commissioner Oliver Luck. “One thing I think that is different is Vince McMahon and the lessons he has taken away from 2001.
“His WWE businesses are doing extraordinarily well. The resources that he has committed, as we like to say, he’s got a full tank in the car.”
This version of the XFL will have a new way to settle games in overtime. Teams will line up at opposite ends of the field and get five chances from the five-yard line, and the team with the most points at the end of the shootout gets the victory.
As for the talent? The commish believes the quality of players, especially at QB, will be better than what the AAF boasted.
“We have some guys who left the NFL on terms that were not their own, but still have 2-4 years left of playing,” Luck added. “It gives me hope that we can play solid football.”
XFL (2020)
Inaugural teams: Dallas Renegades; D.C. Defenders; Houston Roughnecks; Los Angeles Wildcats; New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks; Seattle Dragons; Tampa Bay Vipers Championship trophy: XFL Championship Trophy (with finalists being determined by the four-team playoff played by the two top teams in each conference)
Average salary: $55,000
Other facts: 10-game regular season; broadcasts by ABC, ESPN and Fox Corporation, 25-second clock; only two timeouts per half per team; three post-touchdown options for points; no extra-point kicks; overtime decided by five possession for each team
Opening kickoff: Seattle vs. D.C., Saturday, 2 p.m. ET