The Chinese Flu claims a major trophy as the XFL closes up shop.
The XFL already had a questionable future once it suspended its inaugural season after five games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the league's future seems to be in serious jeopardy.
Per ESPN's Field Yates, the XFL is suspending day-to-day operations and all employees have been laid off. The league held a conference call to inform employees of the decision Friday with one employee telling NFL Network's Tom Pelissero the term the league used was "shut down."
The new XFL suspended play prior to Week 6 of its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and canceled the season a week later. The league allowed its players to sign deals with NFL and Canadian Football League teams shortly after, and some of the league's notable players reached deals with NFL teams in the following weeks.
Just kidding. The XFL did extremely well in St. Louis and people here were genuinely excited about the BattleHawks. But that doesn't seem to have translated to the other seven teams in the league and you can lay that at the feet of Vince McMahon.
St. Louis was the only city in the XFL that did not have an NFL team. The other seven cities did. And while a presence in a place like New York is understandable and maybe even necessary, you actually thought that a third professional football team in Los Angeles (fourth if you count USC) was a good idea, Vinnie? You were literally begging for the XFL to die.
Other professional leagues have taken hits, some of them serious, because of the Chinese Flu but they'll be back. I get the distinct impression that McMahon knew that the XFL would start hemorrhaging money before too much longer and wanted an excuse to shut things down.
Memo to anyone thinking of starting another new football league. Don't neglect towns that you might not automatically think of as "big league." Lots and lots of really passionate football fans live in your Birminghams, your Tulsas, your Omahas, your Portlands, your Oklahomas City, your Sans Antonio, your Saints Louis, etc., just waiting for teams of their own.
Memo to the Canadian Football League. If you ever think about expanding south again, St. Louis has tons of intense football fans and a domed stadium that nobody's using.
The XFL already had a questionable future once it suspended its inaugural season after five games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the league's future seems to be in serious jeopardy.
Per ESPN's Field Yates, the XFL is suspending day-to-day operations and all employees have been laid off. The league held a conference call to inform employees of the decision Friday with one employee telling NFL Network's Tom Pelissero the term the league used was "shut down."
The new XFL suspended play prior to Week 6 of its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and canceled the season a week later. The league allowed its players to sign deals with NFL and Canadian Football League teams shortly after, and some of the league's notable players reached deals with NFL teams in the following weeks.
Just kidding. The XFL did extremely well in St. Louis and people here were genuinely excited about the BattleHawks. But that doesn't seem to have translated to the other seven teams in the league and you can lay that at the feet of Vince McMahon.
St. Louis was the only city in the XFL that did not have an NFL team. The other seven cities did. And while a presence in a place like New York is understandable and maybe even necessary, you actually thought that a third professional football team in Los Angeles (fourth if you count USC) was a good idea, Vinnie? You were literally begging for the XFL to die.
Other professional leagues have taken hits, some of them serious, because of the Chinese Flu but they'll be back. I get the distinct impression that McMahon knew that the XFL would start hemorrhaging money before too much longer and wanted an excuse to shut things down.
Memo to anyone thinking of starting another new football league. Don't neglect towns that you might not automatically think of as "big league." Lots and lots of really passionate football fans live in your Birminghams, your Tulsas, your Omahas, your Portlands, your Oklahomas City, your Sans Antonio, your Saints Louis, etc., just waiting for teams of their own.
Memo to the Canadian Football League. If you ever think about expanding south again, St. Louis has tons of intense football fans and a domed stadium that nobody's using.
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