XFL to return?

nksports
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Post by nksports » Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:40 pm

[quote=""Sam Hill""]There aren't even 32 NFL-caliber quarterbacks in the NFL.[/quote]
RGIII and "The QB Who Must Not Be Named" are still out there, rested and ready.
And when the NFL terminates its contract with Papa John's over Papa John's bat$#!^ craziness, the XFL has a title sponsor.

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Post by fonzob1 » Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:10 pm

[quote=""nksports""]RGIII and "The QB Who Must Not Be Named" are still out there, rested and ready.
And when the NFL terminates its contract with Papa John's over Papa John's bat$#!^ craziness, the XFL has a title sponsor.[/quote]

I think Vince is planning on going for a mandatory stand for the anthem rule, so "the QB who must not be named" is probably not an option on the table.

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Sam Hill
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Post by Sam Hill » Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:01 am

The average NFL salary is just south of $2M. Now, we all know there is not much of a middle class anymore in the post-1993 free agency era, but. still, to pick off NFL free agents, you're going to have to spend millions just to get in the door. And for a recognizable player? Way more (remember, you'd have to outbid the NFL for the guy). For a recognizable player who can actually move the needle and maybe get you some return? Pfffft. Multiple millions.

And depending on the player's position, you're going to need to support him by spending money in some other places.

Bottom line: the $100M McMahon will realize from the stock sale won't even get them close to relevance.

And fans in cities that have lost NFL teams wanted to see *NFL* football. Not crap football played by players who are not even close to being good enough for the NFL.
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Post by fonzob1 » Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:16 am

[quote=""Sam Hill""]The average NFL salary is just south of $2M. Now, we all know there is not much of a middle class anymore in the post-1993 free agency era, but. still, to pick off NFL free agents, you're going to have to spend millions just to get in the door. And for a recognizable player? Way more (remember, you'd have to outbid the NFL for the guy). For a recognizable player who can actually move the needle and maybe get you some return? Pfffft. Multiple millions.

And depending on the player's position, you're going to need to support him by spending money in some other places.

Bottom line: the $100M McMahon will realize from the stock sale won't even get them close to relevance.[/quote]

I agree with all of that, but if he doesn't invest in players that people recognize the league is certain to die a slow death. He will have no chance at a television contract, or drawing more than a few thousand people at games, if his business model is simply to live off of the NFL's scraps.

[quote=""Sam Hill""]And fans in cities that have lost NFL teams wanted to see *NFL* football. Not crap football played by players who are not even close to being good enough for the NFL.[/quote]

Everyone wants *NFL* football. But, those markets I mentioned ain't got it no more. All they got is bitterness now.

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Sam Hill
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Post by Sam Hill » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:00 am

[quote=""fonzob1""]I agree with all of that, but if he doesn't invest in players that people recognize the league is certain to die a slow death. [/quote]

But he's gonna need way more than $100M to do that.

My point is this is destined to fail anyway.

In 1960, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 1974, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 1983, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 2018, you cannot poach NFL players and draft picks. Not when your nest egg is 2/3 of what one NFL team spends on wages.
He will have no chance at a television contract, or drawing more than a few thousand people at games, if his business model is simply to live off of the NFL's scraps.
And this is what I'm saying.

This is why alternative football can't work.

You can't get enough of a return on investment or withstand the inevitable salary inflation that comes from bidding wars. And you can't generate sufficient revenue from TV or ticket sales if you don't do that. It's a lose-lose situation.
Everyone wants *NFL* football. But, those markets I mentioned ain't got it no more. All they got is bitterness now.
And that ain't enough to go on as a business model. Because watching not-good-enough players doesn't salve those wounds.
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Post by fonzob1 » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:37 am

[quote=""Sam Hill""]But he's gonna need way more than $100M to do that.[/quote]

I have to imagine he knows that. He dropped about $65 million the first time around back in 2001.

[quote=""Sam Hill""]My point is this is destined to fail anyway.

In 1960, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 1974, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 1983, you could poach NFL players and draft picks.
In 2018, you cannot poach NFL players and draft picks. Not when your nest egg is 2/3 of what one NFL team spends on wages. [/quote]

He wouldn't be able to snake many NCAA prospects, but if he was able to secure just a couple, it would generate some publicity and potentially some revenue.

[quote=""Sam Hill""]And this is what I'm saying.

This is why alternative football can't work.

You can't get enough of a return on investment or withstand the inevitable salary inflation that comes from bidding wars. And you can't generate sufficient revenue from TV or ticket sales if you don't do that. It's a lose-lose situation. [/quote]

I agree. But, like I said, if Vince wants to sink his money into it for a season or two, I will watch.

[quote=""Sam Hill""]And that ain't enough to go on as a business model. Because watching not-good-enough players doesn't salve those wounds.[/quote]

This is just a "best chance" scenario. It might motivate some consumers that are bitter towards the NFL.

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Post by nksports » Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:54 pm

[quote=""fonzob1""]It might motivate some consumers that are bitter towards the NFL.[/quote]

The best way to do that is have Hacksaw Jim Dugan go around the stadia with his 2X4 and waving the American Flag to the tune of entrance music "Real American." For the players protesting, and just to create heel heat, they could have the Iron Sheik and the Russian Assassins address the crowd to disrespect the flag and the US in general.

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Post by fonzob1 » Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:18 pm

[quote=""nksports""]The best way to do that is have Hacksaw Jim Dugan go around the stadia with his 2X4 and waving the American Flag to the tune of entrance music "Real American." For the players protesting, and just to create heel heat, they could have the Iron Sheik and the Russian Assassins address the crowd to disrespect the flag and the US in general.[/quote]

I don't even know if any of those guys are still alive.

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Post by Sam Hill » Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:39 pm

"Might" get a couple of NCAA prospects and "might" get some people to watch is not a business plan.

If he does, indeed, decide to go along with this, it will fail - again - and miserably.

Because the effort and money necessary to really make it even come close to looking like it's a realistic option for sufficient numbers of people to buy tickets and/or watch on television are so far north of $100M that it's insane.

And it doesn't appear like he knows he doesn't have enough money to mount this assault, does it? Not if the reports are anywhere close to accurate.

You can have a football league. You can have 22 players on the field at any given time, some of which the average person might say, "Oh, I think I remember that guy from the Rose Bowl, maybe." You can stage games. You can do all those things. It's been done.

But you can't do it for any appreciable length of time and you can't do it without losing scads of money.

For all the caterwauling about the <2% of NFL players who stage silent, peaceful, Constitutionally protected protests against injustice, Pissed Off White America is simply not going to watch the 50th-best quarterback in the country throw to the 120th-best receiver in the country on TV, or pay to go watch them play catch just because they have their city's name in the logo on the helmet.

Been proven time and time and time again.
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Post by fonzob1 » Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:23 pm

[quote=""Sam Hill""]"Might" get a couple of NCAA prospects and "might" get some people to watch is not a business plan.

If he does, indeed, decide to go along with this, it will fail - again - and miserably.

Because the effort and money necessary to really make it even come close to looking like it's a realistic option for sufficient numbers of people to buy tickets and/or watch on television are so far north of $100M that it's insane.

And it doesn't appear like he knows he doesn't have enough money to mount this assault, does it? Not if the reports are anywhere close to accurate.

You can have a football league. You can have 22 players on the field at any given time, some of which the average person might say, "Oh, I think I remember that guy from the Rose Bowl, maybe." You can stage games. You can do all those things. It's been done.

But you can't do it for any appreciable length of time and you can't do it without losing scads of money.

For all the caterwauling about the <2% of NFL players who stage silent, peaceful, Constitutionally protected protests against injustice, Pissed Off White America is simply not going to watch the 50th-best quarterback in the country throw to the 120th-best receiver in the country on TV, or pay to go watch them play catch just because they have their city's name in the logo on the helmet.

Been proven time and time and time again.[/quote]

I don't disagree with much of what you said. I just think if he is intent on doing it despite the financial losses, he needs to go big instead of following the FXFL model.

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