In part one, I explained how Vince McMahon may be thinking about another run at the XFL despite it’s initial launch and subsequent sinking back in Y2K. Let’s go back and revisit the infamous XFL’s lone season from the point of view of a season ticket holder who thinks the league could actually survive in the world today.
In late 2000, I learned of the XFL and instantly became hooked before the first game was ever played. When the XFL finally announced the eight teams it would feature in its inaugural season, I was ecstatic to learn that one of them would be the NY/NJ Hitmen and that they’d call Giants Stadium their home.
In my mind, there were too many coincidences at play for this not to be fate. The Hitmen black and blue color scheme matched the rubber bands I’d been wearing in my braces that entire year, and the team’s general manager was none other than my hometown’s hero, Drew Pearson, a Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys WR who would frequent our high school homecoming games over the years to let kids hold his Super Bowl ring. Those tickets were the only thing I wanted that Christmas, so I started angling, pitching, and politicking with the zeal of a used car salesman.
A guy could get in on the action with the Hitmen for just a fraction of what it cost to become a season ticket holder for the Giants or Jets. I also knew that the notion of ex-college football players and second-chancers still playing for the love of the game was something my dad could get behind. We could afford it, we both loved football, and it was a new tradition we could create for ourselves.
A guy could get in on the action with the Hitmen for just a fraction of what it cost to become a season ticket holder for the Giants or Jets.
That Christmas, I unwrapped two notable gifts—an official black and red XFL football that I still have to this day and season tickets for the NY/NJ Hitmen. I was the happiest kid alive.
Pop bought three season ticket packages so my mom could go, and we attended the inaugural home game on Sunday, February 11, 2001 vs. the Birmingham Bolts. To pre-game, we threw around my XFL ball, ate burgers off the grill, and met a ton of new people who were excited to be a part of history as the original Hitmen fans. I was in heaven.
When we got inside, things took a turn. My mom abandoned ship as soon as the cheerleaders came out wearing skimpy outfits that involved leather and fishnet stockings. I can remember knowing this would be the only game she’d attend as they gyrated their hips on the jumbotron to the sound of drunken men cheering all around us. She looked utterly disgusted. My dad didn’t seem to mind it so much.
Unlike the NFL, the XFL didn’t really hide its cheerleaders or willingness to sell sex. Hell, the NY Giants have a long tradition of not having cheerleaders at all, but the XFL, on the other hand, used cheerleaders as an asset to be flaunted with little tact or class. It was part of that love it or hate it WWF flavor that could be seen in every facet of the brand as the season progressed.
Skillful play didn’t seem to appeal to the plebs and WWE fanboys who cared little for good football, and the WWE circus atmosphere was a turn-off for football fans expecting a traditional product.
Unfortunately, the Hitmen’s on-field play was sloppy and disorganized. They won only one home game all season, but that didn’t stop my dad, my best friend Charlie, and I from going nuts when they finally beat the Memphis Maniax 16-15 on a cold March night in Jersey. The Hitmen finished up the season 4-6.
One of the innovative ideas that the NFL wound up benefiting greatly from was those SkyCams hanging over the field to provide an aerial view that had never been seen before on televised broadcasts. Another was the decision to “mic up” players and embed reporters in the locker rooms during halftime and post-game. The NFL literally stole these concepts after the XFL went belly-up.
My favorite outside-the-box XFLism was the “human coin toss,” where one player from each team had to scramble for the ball in order to determine first possession before opening kickoff. The XFL also did away with the extra point by kicking and instead made that point earned with a play from scrimmage. Don’t forget about tossing out the “fair catch” rule. Punt returns were absolute carnage.
Despite the innovations made, the league unfortunately lived and died by the sword of that WWE flavor it refused to shy away from. For example, cheerleaders were encouraged to date players to see what awkwardly forced storylines could emerge on camera. Stunts like this obviously turned off traditional football fans.
Don’t forget about tossing out the “fair catch” rule. Punt returns were absolute carnage.
Another example of this was the motley crew of fans attending games that made little sense to me. They ripped up their programs en masse and flew the pages as paper airplanes around the stadium during the most entertaining game of the season where our Hitmen actually played well and got their only home win.
Drunken brawls weren’t uncommon, although they provided their own entertainment. Skillful play didn’t seem to appeal to the plebs and WWE fanboys who cared little for good football, and the WWE circus atmosphere was a turn-off for football fans expecting a traditional product. Constantly in between a rock and a hard place, that was the XFL in a nutshell.
On the other hand—and the Hitmen were a perfect case of this—the quality of play on the field was only truly atrocious for the first couple of weeks. These brand-new teams were only given a four-week training camp and no pre-season to prepare. Boy, did it show. By the time teams got into good form around week four, the league was dead in the water with television ratings already having declined by 75%—but that doesn’t change the fact that over 100 XFL players went on to play in the NFL or that there were some incredibly entertaining games down the stretch.
The XFL’s ugly combination of poor play early on, WWF showmanship, and the marketing decision to build its brand on attacking the universally beloved NFL wound up creating too much negative imagery to overcome, but I think a league like it could thrive in 2018 if it did a few things right.
When the WWF became the WWE, it instantly became more family-friendly and acceptable in mainstream American culture. Compare Stone Cold Steve Austin cracking beers over his own head and cursing like a sailor to the lily-white American boy image of John Cena—one a badass, the other a role model. A McMahon-run pro sports league taking the WWE approach could succeed today if it focused on the football and left out the tastelessness of the old WWF.
With that being said, the single most important factor in determining an XFL 2.0’s success today would be an absolute unwillingness to back down from attacking the NFL and being an alternative to those alienated by its politics. The NFL of today is the furthest thing from the darling of the American people that it was 16 years ago. Whereas it was a mistake to do so back then, exploiting this weakness will be the lifeblood of any league hoping to become its competition going forward.
Finally, McMahon would be wise to consider stories like mine when considering who his league’s fanbase would be in the case of a revamp. People are tired of entitled athletes making millions and using their soapbox to attack the country. They’re tired of soaring ticket prices, public seating licenses, and divisive identity politics.
An affordable alternative to the NFL product that celebrates the middle-class, the underdog, and the second chance story could provide a Renaissance for football in this country. At the very least, it could help leverage the NFL back into operating with some sanity. I can see it now. United Football League: Make Gridiron Great Again!
