XFL Thread

[Bandit]

[Bandit]

About what was expected.

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Poundin those seltzers You gotta love to see that

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It would be better if all the teams could play at soccer-style stadiums. Places like CenturyLink and Raymond James are too big.

[Big Boss Man]

XFL AVERAGES 3.3 MILLION VIEWERS FOR SATURDAY DEBUT

ESPN reported that the XFL debut featuring the Seattle Dragons vs. the DC Defenders averaged 3.3 million viewers on ABC Saturday, peaking at four million viewers for the closing quarter of the game.

The relaunched league owned by WWE chairman Vince McMahon debuted Saturday with an early afternoon game on ABC and a late afternoon game on Fox. Sunday's early afternoon game also aired on Fox with ESPN taking the Sunday late afternoon game. Ratings for all four games should be available Monday afternoon.

The strongest market for the debut was Seattle/Tacoma, which averaged a 6.4 rating. followed by Columbus, OH, and Cleveland, OH, both traditionally strong football markets that averaged 4.6 and 4.5 respectively. The Washington DC area averaged a 4.0.

As a comparison, the debut week of the AAF in 2019 averaged 2.9 million viewers for that league's debut on CBS. That game aired in prime time, however, so it may not be a fair comparison. The original XFL averaged a 9.5 rating on NBC in 2001, but fell 52% in week two and had a similar drop in week three and had what were, at the time, record low network TV ratings by the fourth week. The network cancelled its coverage of the league by the end of the season.

Saturday's broadcast was widely praised for unique innovations such as live coverage of the replay officials' reviews of controversial calls and live mics which showed coaches calling plays to the key players.

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/xfl- ... but-303816

[Dr. Zoidberg]

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[Bandit]

Nobody is allowed to claim an injury for time off ever again. AJ Styles better get his ass to California for Raw tonight.

[Bandit]

It would be hilarious if he went and was made back up QB there too.

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XFL Ratings Take Tumble in Week 2: TRAINA THOUGHTS

There was a lot of talk on Twitter during the XFL's first weekend about the kickoff format and access to players during the action. However, those two things weren't enough to keep everyone who sampled the games around for Week 2.

Here's how the Saturday ratings stack up from Week 1 to Week 2:

Week 1
DC at Seattle, ABC: 3.3 million viewers
L.A. at Houston, FOX: 3.2 million viewers

Week 2
New York at D.C., ABC: 2.1 million viewers
Tampa Bay at Seattle, Fox: 2.3 million viewers



The league also suffered a ratings dip on Sunday, but it's hard to compare those numbers because Week 1 games aired on FOX (3.3 million viewers) and ESPN (2.4 million viewers) and Week 2 games aired on ABC (2.3 million viewers) and FS1 (1.3 million viewers).

Now for some perspective: Two million viewers for a sporting event featuring a brand new league isn't terrible. It's also not great. The biggest concern the XFL should have is the size of the drop from Week 1 to Week 2. Those are significant dips. Week 3 will be key. If the numbers stabilize, the XFL could be in decent shape. If the numbers drop again, don't buy stock in the league's longterm viability.

And if you see anyone comparing the XFL's ratings to the AAF's ratings, don't get hoodwinked. The AAF aired on CBS Sports Network, Turner Sports and NFL Network.

The XFL has the ESPN machine and FOX behind it. It's an apples and oranges comparison.

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Things seem to be going well

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Big Boss Man]

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo added the XFL will pay employees through Sunday, but beyond that, it's unclear when or if the league might return.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/288 ... 9-pandemic

[Bandit]

Vince got what he wanted, he brought it back and it was successful for what it was. He might as well just leave it there.

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This definitely sucks, it was adequately good football.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[melancholy]

So is this a direct result of Corona, or did Corona just accelerate its demise?