The XFL’s third try offered an interesting backdrop earlier this year, as the rebooted USFL managed to follow through on plans to play a second season. While spring-summer leagues perpetually navigate uphill battles, both finished their respective seasons. But the leagues did not fare especially well financially.
As a result, the two minor leagues of sorts are planning to merge, according to Tim Baysinger, Dan Primack and Sara Fischer of Axios.com. Details are somewhat elusive here, but InsidetheLeague.com’s Neil Stratton indicates talks have been ongoing since July. The leagues have not completed a merger yet but hope to finalize this process before the 2024 season, per Axios, and an official announcement could come this week.
Offseason football or even an in-season effort, which the United Football League tried nearly 15 years ago, has produced quick shutdowns. Although the UFL lasted multiple seasons, XFL 1.0 folded after a memorable 2001 faceplant. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the second XFL iteration to cancel its season midway through, and a messy legal battle ensued. With that coming a year after the Alliance of American Football folded before its inaugural campaign wrapped, prospects of a major spring football league in America appeared grim. But the USFL has quietly kept going. The league completed its second season this year.
Dwayne Johnson led the effort for the XFL to return, with he and ex-wife/business partner Dany Garcia reviving the once-Vince McMahon-helmed operation. The XFL, however, lost roughly $60MM this year. The XFL’s championship game still outdrew the USFL’s, earning a 1.4 rating as the USFL commanded a 1.2 number. The XFL had been expected to remain in operation, with the Giants’ assistant special teams coach — Anthony Blevins — leaving the NFC East team for an XFL HC opportunity this summer. That opportunity may now come for a renamed and expanded league.
It is unknown if both eight-team leagues will see all its franchises become part of an expanded operation or how many games would be played in home markets. Neither league went through with the latter aspect fully this season, attempting to save on travel costs. Both XFL and USFL teams featured a Houston franchise — the Roughnecks and Gamblers, respectively — so that would seemingly need to be ironed out. Should a 16-team league form, it would remind — in size only — of the original USFL, which at one point ballooned to 18 teams. That league, of course, famously combusted in the mid-1980s.
XFL 3.0 and USFL 2.0 have sent players to the NFL — most notably Cowboys All-Pro return man KaVontae Turpin, a USFLer in 2022 — and the NFL had worked out a developmental-based partnership with the XFL. It will be interesting to see how that arrangement will look should the two spring leagues complete this merger.
Should the leagues merge, one of them would also need to change its schedule. The XFL began in February last year, while the USFL kicked off in April. While this coming to fruition certainly could increase interest in spring football, the details of this merger will be critical.
intresting… its never rly gonna wrk but theyre trying it lol. The only way I could ever see this working is if the spring leagues somehow by god managed to convince college/nfl players to come play and show off their skills. But then again it would still always have a * over it because of the talent differences
It could work if they offered a developmental program like the nba does.
The g league ignite offers college bound players opportunities to come play against nba “level” players as opposed to going to a college. Including international players.
Theoretically, the league would serve as developmental league for nfl teams (like a bigger practice squad kind of). Players can come in from high school or if players are dismissed from colleges/not getting enough playing time at said school could offer a place for guys to go to instead of going into transfer portal. That and serve as a place for guys to continue playing who don’t find nfl deals.
Idk when it all starts up but I’d start end of March go all the way to end of June and maybe guys can catch on with nfl teams by end of June going into July.
I don’t follow basketball. Does the G league actually fill stadiums? Because every spring league game I’ve seen on TV, the stands are about 5-7% full in capacity. No one watches any of their games.
The original USFL set up as a competitor to the NFL and obtained NFL starter talent so it made sense for many of its teams to be based based in NFL cities. Since a minor league doesn’t have the same talent level, the merged leagues may need to concentrate in non-NFL cities like Memphis, Sacramento, San Antonio, Orlando, St Louis, etc.
The G League ultimately realized that each team needed to have a direct relationship with one NBA team so this merged league may want to consider that long term. These two strategies could make the league sustainable.
This does not surprise me
It’s the standard American business practice of re-packaging some old s__t and trying to con the consumer into thinking it’s magically new and improved…lol.
Well if they do it right, it could work
I disagree.
these leagues hurt each other by competing TV deals. merger was always an expected outcome, just not this soon.
now the league can be on across NBC/FOX/ABC/ESPN and cross-promote
neither league did “bad” .. they both accomplished their year short term goals with TV and marketing.
but ohhh the Rock lose 60 million on the XFL .. it’s a faaaaillure …
… to put in perspective, formerly fully bankrupt MLS “failure” just got a:
– $600 Million dollar expansion fee from San Diego
– $200 million fee from st Louis
– 2.5 billion APPLE TV deal
– made countless bank off messi attendance sales
so you can understand why negative 60 mil might not be that big of a deal over a 10 year plan to grow spring football?
The reincarnated USFL has sent another player to the Cowboys. Brandon Aubrey, formerly of the Birmingham Stallions and Toronto FC, was 5-for-5 on field goals in Dallas’ win over the Jets.
Smart move, long overdue, it’s a tough enough endeavor without competing with the other league to get your league going. Now they need to set up a true feeder league with the NFL and get subsidized by them sand their deep pockets.
I really think that was part of the problem. There is obviously an appetite for spring football, but not so much that you need two different leagues. A merger likely makes this more successful. My hope is it follows the XFL formula though. I enjoyed that. I watched about a quarter of an USFL game and just couldn’t get into it.
agree 100%
these leagues are so much better off working together primarily with the competing TV coverage
will be interesting to see what banner they run under, if teams will be removed , if USFL teams will be pressured away from Hubs, which rule set?
so many questions !!
another interesting idea I saw was both leagues stay similar, but run an AL / NL style conferences with their own rules and interleague matchups
should be fun to follow this
Tons of questions for sure!
The idea of both leagues competing with their own rules within a “conference” is an interesting one. I’d be okay with that, as I don’t know that it was really anything with the USFL rules that turned me off. I honestly didn’t watch enough to make a fair assessment. It was more the “feel” of the game. I can’t stress this enough, but I really believe every team needs to have it’s own stadium. New Orleans doesn’t feel like New Orleans when it’s playing it’s home games in Birmingham. I’d also wonder, in a start-up league, why football fans in Birmingham would support a team that doesn’t belong to the city? It’s in a different place than the NFL, where the teams are known and teams have national followings. You have to think of your league more like minor league baseball that way.
agreed on home stadiums being crucial .
worried that the USFL hub teams might dissipate
another domino to fall is Vegas Vipers were confirmed to be out of Cashman Field and headed to Nashville or AZ …
wonder if the team is just completely wiped now with the USFL teams joining
USFL Memphis was one of their better markets
Keep XFL. Merge. Hold training camps and mini combines to stir the crowd. Developmental league but with spirit fingers.
I think the nfl should expand its practice squads, and each team have a developmental team. I don’t give a damn about these current teams, but if the Steelers had a AAA team, you’re damn skippy I’d tune in.
I feel the same.
I want so badly to be into these leagues, and by the time spring comes around Im like ..”meh”
I just cant get excited or get into it. Its football, I should love it. Ill watch an obscure college team any day, but gimme the NY Dragons (or whatever) and Im only mildly interested.
Part of it is recognition thing I think. Attach it to an NFL teams minor league, and Ill learn every player.
It could be a marketing thing too, as I barely realized there was a season started until it was nearly over. Its not really out there. (I also dont have ESPN so I could be wrong)
Hard to get into these USFL teams when they don’t have anything to do with the cities they’re supposedly representing. There’s just no connection to the fanbase.
nah gotta keep players options open.
not enough size and athleticism available to truly have deep dev teams in football
only 1 player in the entire XFL made a NFL active roster out of camp, and it was a punter…
I think you’ll find the opposite , in that you’ll enjoy cheering on your Pittsburgh Mauler player on whatever NFL team they join
as I, for no other reason than XFL, am now cheering for Ben DiNucci in Denver
also Steelers fans could cheer for XFL Brahmas or USFL Maulers
I always like Brahmas better since Maulers didn’t bother to play in Pittsburgh and think XFL is better…., but would be more of a Maulers fan if they come to Heinz Field
Didn’t think they’d merge so quickly lol
I hope they keep the XFL branding (more popular branding/more followers on social platforms)
agreed. XFL is better in every aspect
USFL just had that amazing “cant-fail” TV deal with Fox and NBC .. now they’ll add ESPN to the deal
The XFL branding is so much better.
It’s insane to me the NFL doesn’t subsidize one of these leagues and use it as a developmental league. Especially given the success of the NBA G-League in that regard. It seems like such a no-brainer that the only thing I can possibly think of that’s holding it back is that the owners understand that this would cut into their short-term profits, so it’s a non-starter, no matter what benefit it could have to the league and quality of play.
I believe the NFL considers college football their informal minor league because it costs them nothing. However, each team can have 16 practice squad players so they pay for that. Why not have NFL teams pair up on one of 16 minor league teams so practice squad players can get actual playing time?
NFL GMs have no interest in waiting 2 or 3 years for some player in a third rate bush league to develop into something useful when they can simply draft a college prospect or take a flyer on an NFL free agent. These leagues surviving is the same pipe dream that Roller Derby leagues use to embrace.
baseless comment claiming that NFL GMs have no interest, being that over 100 spring league guys got camp invites, I think over half that is on practice squads at current
also pensions.. players need 3 years to get NFL pension..
Many,many players get cut after year 2 and have no chance at redemption.. get a job at the food mart and never get a call with no opportunity to show what they can do.
I can assure you that Ben DiNucci is grateful for the opportunity to get back on a practice squad and secure his lifetime NFL pension.
So you’re saying these leagues could survive because they have players with the talent to get camp invites? It costs NFL teams nothing to look at a player…your grandmother could probably get an invite.
no , you’re the only one inferring that promoting players to the NFL somehow makes them profitable….
if you would like to have a conversation about business structure and TV money , that would be more relevant to the point you’re trying to make.
It’s very simple really. In any business you have to offer potential customers a service or product that has equal value to what your competitors are offering. If you can’t do that you will eventually go bankrupt.
They’re competing with baseball in spring.
even tho I follow MLB, I personally prefer watching the spring football games more
I just like football