Anything Vince McMahon says should be taken with a bucket of salt. He is a vaseline-covered snake.

1 down 1 to go. 

 

XFL is starting to remind me of Madden House rules events!

Info breaking

So...no rights fees paid.  Which Im guessing means Vince took visibility of big stations over money to prove concept?  Im surprised because the chatter was they had lots of interest.  Ill guess there is an ad share arrangement that would be lucrative based on ratings.

No wonder Vince sold a ton of stock...

Some more info...makes it sound better for XFL

Quote

The networks are not paying a rights fee, but ESPN and Fox are picking up production costs, which generally amount to around $400,000 per game, sources said. As part of the deal, the nets will sell ads around the game; the XFL will handle sponsorships at the venue. ESPN and Fox will hold streaming rights to XFL games. The two nets also will cross-promote games during game broadcasts. One of the key drivers of a successful professional league is broad exposure and appointment television, and weve got that, said CAAs Alan Gold, who along with agency's Nick Khanbrokered the deal for league.

 

 

On 2019-04-15 at 5:14 PM, Tracker said:

Anything Vince McMahon says should be taken with a bucket of salt. He is a vaseline-covered snake.

All business people are. Not sure what Vince did to you tho. I mean really if he was in front of your face you'd likely not say a damn thing. 

So its about a $17.2 million deal in terms of production costs.  The visibility is the big thing.  Very high visibility.  Speculation is the AAF debacle really hurt XFL in terms of networks being hesitant to invest.  Vince has the money to support it through the deal and then try to cash in on the other side.

Does anyone in the States even want the XFL? 

14 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Does anyone in the States even want the XFL? 

There is a market for sure. AAFs problem was lack of promotion. 

People were watching.... AAFs business model was flawed.. It was 100 percent based on the idea they would be an nfl developmental league. Nobody told the NFL that tho... Theres a market for football there.. Im not convinced XFL is in those markets tho. 

14 minutes ago, Goalie said:

There is a market for sure. AAFs problem was lack of promotion. 

People were watching.... AAFs business model was flawed.. It was 100 percent based on the idea they would be an nfl developmental league. Nobody told the NFL that tho... Theres a market for football there.. Im not convinced XFL is in those markets tho. 

I think the XFL will last at least twice as long as the AAF, they can't possibly be stupid enough to make the same mistakes.

XFL will have halftime entertainment featuring wrestlers at the 50 yard line. Only the best wrestlers will be featured. They might even extend it to players, one each per team. Maybe even tag team. The possibilities are endless. 

Strut, strut, strut..

🤡 🤗🙄

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

There is a market for sure. AAFs problem was lack of promotion. 

People were watching.... AAFs business model was flawed.. It was 100 percent based on the idea they would be an nfl developmental league. Nobody told the NFL that tho... Theres a market for football there.. Im not convinced XFL is in those markets tho. 

Yup.  And no money and they rushed their product.  Vince is actually doing all the right things.  Tons of money, self-ownership, taking his time and partnering with high profile networks.

He'll have probably 2-3 years to prove the concept and cash in on the next TV deal (it might even be built into the current deals).  Its a big risk in terms of raking upwards of half a billion of his own money but its his money, he has plenty and he's old so why not.  Shane & Steph might feel differently but they're doing okay anyway lol

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

Does anyone in the States even want the XFL? 

No but who cares what they think? Only Vince's opinion counts. 

I was down on the XFL but these moves actually sound like they’re well thought out from a business perspective. That slightly increases the chance of the XFL being a borderline success. 

At the end of the day though, they have to find a way to get a consistent amount of people in the stands and watching from home. I’m not sure they’ll be able to do that, even with the advantage of the WWE machine. 

17 hours ago, Goalie said:

There is a market for sure. AAFs problem was lack of promotion. 

People were watching.... AAFs business model was flawed.. It was 100 percent based on the idea they would be an nfl developmental league. Nobody told the NFL that tho... Theres a market for football there.. Im not convinced XFL is in those markets tho. 

It’s the same model.  AAF partnered with CBS and NFL Network.  The league had central ownership.

The issue becomes how much capital can people lose/are they willing to lose in these ventures.  Because it is basically a guarantee they will lose money.  The overhead to get into the size of stadiums, insure the league and players, pay the players something etc is huge.  I’m sure the tag line about more concussions is helping to lower the health premiums.  If it can’t be covered by gate the league is immediately in the red because the TV deal is not bringing in any revenue and sponsors are going to hang back to see if they get traction.

I don't know.. if Arena football couldn't make it with all the coverage and support they had then I don't see how this will make it. 

27 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

It’s the same model.  AAF partnered with CBS and NFL Network.  The league had central ownership.

The issue becomes how much capital can people lose/are they willing to lose in these ventures.  Because it is basically a guarantee they will lose money.  The overhead to get into the size of stadiums, insure the league and players, pay the players something etc is huge.  I’m sure the tag line about more concussions is helping to lower the health premiums.  If it can’t be covered by gate the league is immediately in the red because the TV deal is not bringing in any revenue and sponsors are going to hang back to see if they get traction.

Its quite different from AAF.  I believe AAF was actually a time-buy (they paid the networks for the time).  And didnt have enough money (or willingness to invest/lose enough money).  When they brought on a partner, they lost control.  There are no partners in XFL.  Its Vince.  Period.

8 hours ago, Brandon said:

I don't know.. if Arena football couldn't make it with all the coverage and support they had then I don't see how this will make it. 

Arent they up and running again? I think they had a nice little niche, they just went crazy with expansion and pushing it. 

Is the XFL dead again yet?

17 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Arent they up and running again? I think they had a nice little niche, they just went crazy with expansion and pushing it. 

Is the XFL dead again yet?

Probably has three years before being re-examined.   Vince put in enough money for that period of time.   Unless ratings are so horrific the networks back out after a year. 

43 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Probably has three years before being re-examined.   Vince put in enough money for that period of time.   Unless ratings are so horrific the networks back out after a year. 

again. That's an incredible amount of money to front, considering how much that team owner dumped into the AAF and didn't buy half a season I'm not optimistic. I think a secondary league in the US doing well is good for football. Another talent catch before guys disappear, a place for old guys to go who arent done with football yet, giving chances to young bucks to play more. I just dont think the XFL will be it. 

3 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

again. That's an incredible amount of money to front, considering how much that team owner dumped into the AAF and didn't buy half a season I'm not optimistic. I think a secondary league in the US doing well is good for football. Another talent catch before guys disappear, a place for old guys to go who arent done with football yet, giving chances to young bucks to play more. I just dont think the XFL will be it. 

The AAF guy didnt really put $250 million into it though.  That was smoke & mirrors.   He bought in because he wanted some gambling software the AAF owned.  He then went to the networks and tried to re-negotiate the deal to get them to pay more and they wouldnt.

I cant sy for sure, but I'd suspect the $350 million Vince already put into Alpha will keep it going for at least two years.  And Vince has access to more money if he needs it.

1 minute ago, The Unknown Poster said:

The AAF guy didnt really put $250 million into it though.  That was smoke & mirrors.   He bought in because he wanted some gambling software the AAF owned.  He then went to the networks and tried to re-negotiate the deal to get them to pay more and they wouldnt.

I cant sy for sure, but I'd suspect the $350 million Vince already put into Alpha will keep it going for at least two years.  And Vince has access to more money if he needs it.

Ahh that does make sense. Ive heard that in game gambling software thing they had has mega potential.

I imagine this is going to have everything he can muster behind it. Im, sure he doesn't want his public legacy to be failing at football twice, and his wifes failed political run. (few people under 30 know or care how big wrestling got under his brand) 

56 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Ahh that does make sense. Ive heard that in game gambling software thing they had has mega potential.

I imagine this is going to have everything he can muster behind it. Im, sure he doesn't want his public legacy to be failing at football twice, and his wifes failed political run. (few people under 30 know or care how big wrestling got under his brand) 

Yeah, everything non-wrestling failed.  Although his wife did end up a member of Trump's cabinet so thats something.  Its a bit strange because Vince isnt a young man anymore...its really a legacy thing.

Being willing to lose upwards of half a billion on a proof-of-concept is mind boggling.  Even if he proves it and in three years, the networks are willing to pay for football..it would take years for him to recoup his investment.  

WWE has never revealed the succession plan for Vince but now Alpha would need one too if they want investments from networks etc.  If Vince dropped dead tomorrow, then what?

Sincere question: Are we at the point where this thread could move to the General Forum? I think it's really lost it's "Bombers and CFL" lustre....just a thought.