OT: Hear Me Out

[pitt_134]

I read a week ago or so that Vince McMahan was planning on attempting to create a “new” football league. This made me think and this is where the hear me out part comes in...say he or anyone makes a league. It could be cities, states, small metro areas, etc.... The teams main targets could be elite/solid/good HS players, free agents from the NFL and just college players that could never go pro... The thing is these HS kids could be getting paid big money fresh outta school.(even though some are)....But I’m saying big bucks, millions....Like I said I read this article and was just thinking about that...I don’t see this happening at all but I’m all seriousness it could be a profitable league, especially if they could pick off some big current NFL talent...Anyone else see this article or have any thoughts about this? This is basically an off-season thread to get people talking.

 

[thebadby2]

I read a week ago or so that Vince McMahan was planning on attempting to create a “new” football league. This made me think and this is where the hear me out part comes in...say he or anyone makes a league. It could be cities, states, small metro areas, etc.... The teams main targets could be elite/solid/good HS players, free agents from the NFL and just college players that could never go pro... The thing is these HS kids could be getting paid big money fresh outta school.(even though some are)....But I’m saying big bucks, millions....Like I said I read this article and was just thinking about that...I don’t see this happening at all but I’m all seriousness it could be a profitable league, especially if they could pick off some big current NFL talent...Anyone else see this article or have any thoughts about this? This is basically an off-season thread to get people talking.

Is this post from 2001?

 

[pitt_134]

No McMahan isn’t going to do it the XFL way this time the article said.

 

[Sarge25]

He should try and go to college areas instead of small cities. Try happy valley, ann arbor, knoxville, Columbus etc.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

XFL 2.0?

 

[RaleighPittFan]

No McMahan isn’t going to do it the XFL way this time the article said.

A link to the article would be great.

 

[Jakey_John]

OP is right. McMahon is planning something. However, in his entire career he could not accept being second banana at anything. I doubt he wants to start now.

 

[Swervin27]

so a well financed semi pro league? Maybe, i'd go in the spring, try and get college guys who flunked out or kicked off their college team, the random journeyman nfl player, it could work.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Vince is relentless, and Trump will be on his side. You never know.

 

[joeydavid]

Is Vince McMahon going to prison as well?

Vince is relentless, and Trump will be on his side. You never know.

 

[wbrpanther]

A link to the article would be great.

not really!

 

[Pitt79]

I'd become a fan if the had no replay reviews and just let a catch be just because the ref ruled it a catch without looking at it again.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I read a week ago or so that Vince McMahan was planning on attempting to create a “new” football league. This made me think and this is where the hear me out part comes in...say he or anyone makes a league. It could be cities, states, small metro areas, etc.... The teams main targets could be elite/solid/good HS players, free agents from the NFL and just college players that could never go pro... The thing is these HS kids could be getting paid big money fresh outta school.(even though some are)....But I’m saying big bucks, millions....Like I said I read this article and was just thinking about that...I don’t see this happening at all but I’m all seriousness it could be a profitable league, especially if they could pick off some big current NFL talent...Anyone else see this article or have any thoughts about this? This is basically an off-season thread to get people talking.

I am intrigued by new ventures like this. I'm always one for new ideas.

- If I'm McMahon, one thing I would think about is making a "super-patriotic" league appealing to the people who got so upset with players kneeling for the anthem. Maybe have the teams play at military bases, require the teams to stand and sing patriotic songs after every quarter. Have a guy like Hannity or O'Reilly do the pregame.

- Another idea is to have teams associated with states but they can only pull from players who graduated HS in that state or played college football in that state.

The thing is for this league to work, it has to have a good TV deal. For it to have a good TV deal, people need a reason to watch. Im not going to turn on a random game between Columbus and Birmingham but if I knew it were all Ohio kids vs all Alabama kids, that may give me a reason. If I could watch a PA team of former Pitt players, I would watch it.

- Another idea is a straight-up alumni football league. Don't even beat around the bush.

Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Knoxville
Gainesville
Baton Rouge
College Station
Austin
Norman
State College
Ann Arbor
Madison
Iowa City
Lincoln
Tallahassee
Clemson
Blacksburg
Los Angeles
Eugene

Etc

In the spring, I think some of these games could get people excited

 

[DiehardPanther]

I am intrigued by new ventures like this. I'm always one for new ideas.

- If I'm McMahon, one thing I would think about is making a "super-patriotic" league appealing to the people who got so upset with players kneeling for the anthem. Maybe have the teams play at military bases, require the teams to stand and sing patriotic songs after every quarter. Have a guy like Hannity or O'Reilly do the pregame.

- Another idea is to have teams associated with states but they can only pull from players who graduated HS in that state or played college football in that state.

The thing is for this league to work, it has to have a good TV deal. For it to have a good TV deal, people need a reason to watch. Im not going to turn on a random game between Columbus and Birmingham but if I knew it were all Ohio kids vs all Alabama kids, that may give me a reason. If I could watch a PA team of former Pitt players, I would watch it.

- Another idea is a straight-up alumni football league. Don't even beat around the bush.

Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Knoxville
Gainesville
Baton Rouge
College Station
Austin
Norman
State College
Ann Arbor
Madison
Iowa City
Lincoln
Tallahassee
Clemson
Blacksburg
Los Angeles
Eugene

Etc

In the spring, I think some of these games could get people excited

You actually provide some good ideas in this post.

 

[Pitt79]

I am intrigued by new ventures like this. I'm always one for new ideas.

- If I'm McMahon, one thing I would think about is making a "super-patriotic" league appealing to the people who got so upset with players kneeling for the anthem. Maybe have the teams play at military bases, require the teams to stand and sing patriotic songs after every quarter. Have a guy like Hannity or O'Reilly do the pregame.

- Another idea is to have teams associated with states but they can only pull from players who graduated HS in that state or played college football in that state.

The thing is for this league to work, it has to have a good TV deal. For it to have a good TV deal, people need a reason to watch. Im not going to turn on a random game between Columbus and Birmingham but if I knew it were all Ohio kids vs all Alabama kids, that may give me a reason. If I could watch a PA team of former Pitt players, I would watch it.

- Another idea is a straight-up alumni football league. Don't even beat around the bush.

Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Knoxville
Gainesville
Baton Rouge
College Station
Austin
Norman
State College
Ann Arbor
Madison
Iowa City
Lincoln
Tallahassee
Clemson
Blacksburg
Los Angeles
Eugene

Etc

In the spring, I think some of these games could get people excited

In the early 2000s, someone was going to try the state based or school based league.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_American_Football_League

 

[Pitt79]

Myself, what would really appeal to me would be a league based on the idea of minimizing rules and limiting the influence of officiating. I'd take the NFL rule book and gut it, have CFL motion rules, get rid of stuff like illegal formation, other than having 5 O lineman, discourage the refs from calling many penalties other than PI, get rid of replay-accept the calls on the field, reduce the play clock to 25 seconds and take the radios out of the QB and MLB helmets and force the players to call the plays, one foot in bounds is a catch, make it a fast moving sport with few stoppages,

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Myself, what would really appeal to me would be a league based on the idea of minimizing rules and limiting the influence of officiating. I'd take the NFL rule book and gut it, have CFL motion rules, get rid of stuff like illegal formation, other than having 5 O lineman, discourage the refs from calling many penalties other than PI, get rid of replay-accept the calls on the field, reduce the play clock to 25 seconds and take the radios out of the QB and MLB helmets and force the players to call the plays, one foot in bounds is a catch, make it a fast moving sport with few stoppages,

How about a league where players don't wear helmets? If players didn't wear helmets, they would not be spearing people with their head or making head to head tackles. Conussions would be drastically reduced

 

[Sarge25]

How about a league where players don't wear helmets? If players didn't wear helmets, they would not be spearing people with their head or making head to head tackles. Conussions would be drastically reduced

Right. Just like there were no high sticking penalites when visors were not mandatory.
Remove batting helmets and baseball players won’t get hit in the head right?

The players have no brains. What makes you think a db won’t launch himself with a shouler or forearm to a wr’s head?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

How about a league where players don't wear helmets? If players didn't wear helmets, they would not be spearing people with their head or making head to head tackles. Conussions would be drastically reduced

Right. Just like there were no high sticking penalites when visors were not mandatory.
Remove batting helmets and baseball players won’t get hit in the head right?

The players have no brains. What makes you think a db won’t launch himself with a shouler or forearm to a wr’s head?

Because there are less concussions in rugby and 0 concussions from the 100+ games of pickup tackle football we played as kids. If people dont wear helmets, they dont use their head as a weapon

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

If he wants to throw more money away, he can go right ahead. Whatever league he starts, it will fail. History tells us they all fail.

 

[Sarge25]

Because there are less concussions in rugby and 0 concussions from the 100+ games of pickup tackle football we played as kids. If people dont wear helmets, they dont use their head as a weapon

You do realize that there isn’t a forward pass in rugby which js probably when 75% of consuccions occur.

And you are trying to compare tackle football played by kids to football played by grown men at the peak of their physical condition? wow

 

[h2p_5150]

I don't know how he could make it work. The problem with the original XFL was the quality sucked. The quality sucked because the players sucked.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't know how he could make it work. The problem with the original XFL was the quality sucked. The quality sucked because the players sucked.

Here's the deal. The quality is going to be far below the NFL so they cant sell that. People aren't going to turn it on for that. There has to be a gimmick. Just tweaking a few rules and playing in cities that dont have the NFL isn't going to get people to watch and buy tickets.

If the goal is to sell lower level professional football in this country, you have to have an emotional attachment. The only thing that I can see that has a chance of working is some type of Alumni Football League. If anything, you'd think it would have serious popularity in some places. I'd think Ann Arbor @ Columbus and Auburn @ Tuscaloosa easily sell out

 

[Pitt79]

Right. Just like there were no high sticking penalites when visors were not mandatory.
Remove batting helmets and baseball players won’t get hit in the head right?

The players have no brains. What makes you think a db won’t launch himself with a shouler or forearm to a wr’s head?

How do they do it in Rugby?

 

[upj87]

Is Vince McMahon going to prison as well?

for what? being a meanie who lets me keep more of my money ?

 

[Swervin27]

I'd become a fan if the had no replay reviews and just let a catch be just because the ref ruled it a catch without looking at it again.

wait, not review every catch for 5 minutes? The hell you say.. but what if the ball moves a quarter of an inch after the WR takes 6 steps?

 

[Pitt79]

Myself, what would really appeal to me would be a league based on the idea of minimizing rules and limiting the influence of officiating. I'd take the NFL rule book and gut it, have CFL motion rules, get rid of stuff like illegal formation, other than having 5 O lineman, discourage the refs from calling many penalties other than PI, get rid of replay-accept the calls on the field, reduce the play clock to 25 seconds and take the radios out of the QB and MLB helmets and force the players to call the plays, one foot in bounds is a catch, make it a fast moving sport with few stoppages,

This is my earlier quote do this what I say above, and somehow juice up the rules, so that there is a lot of constant action, Encourage wide open play and constant risk taking. A game that's action packed, fast moving and where you never notice that there officials at all would appeal to me, even with inferior players.

 

[DiehardPanther]

This is my earlier quote do this what I say above, and somehow juice up the rules, so that there is a lot of constant action, Encourage wide open play and constant risk taking. A game that's action packed, fast moving and where you never notice that there officials at all would appeal to me, even with inferior players.

You are right. The door has been opened. The lack of flow to the game, and some fans are still upset over the National Anthem. If Vince puts this together properly it has a chance. I do not like hockey, so Feb to May would intrigue me.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

There are so many questions, It's hard to begin to ask them.

l. Where
....A. NFL cities
....B. College towns
........1. FBS
........2. FCS
....C. Regional vs National
........1. SoCal
.......2. Gulf Coast
....D. Large Cities without a current football team
....E. What stadiums
ll. Who
....A. 18 +
....B. College age +
....C. NFL has beens
lll. When
....A. Winter
....B. Spring
lV. Financing
....A. Broadcasting rights
....B. Team Owner's stake
....C. Revenue sharing
V. Coaching
....A. NFL
....B. Major College
Vl. Goal for players
....A. Showcase for NFL
....B. Bigger paycheck
....C. Last chance


I could go on and on, but I find it hard that they will find a niche that works that hasn't already been tried.

People are used to watching either NFL or major college football. Anything that falls short of that standard will be a hard sell. And by standard I mean both standard of play, and game day environment.

Good luck to them, but all I see is a few fortunes being lost by investors / owners.

Edit to try to correct for goofy spacing on this site.

 

[HailtoPitt]

In an attempt to appeal to the conservative snowflakes and armchair justice warriors who were so butt-hurt over players kneeling, Vince is going to call it the "Real American Football League" with Commissioner Hulk Hogan. Word is that Hogan already franchised a team from Russia with an owner who asks everyone to stand for the Soviet National Anthem before every game. Also, Hulk is considering adding an Iranian team, with a mascot that is a flag waiving, horned boot wearing lunatic.

If this fails to gain interest of real american football viewers, Vince will release more tapes of Hogan saying the N word. Viewership should increase in support.

 

[upj87]

In an attempt to appeal to the conservative snowflakes and armchair justice warriors who were so butt-hurt over players kneeling, Vince is going to call it the "Real American Football League" with Commissioner Hulk Hogan. Word is that Hogan already franchised a team from Russia with an owner who asks everyone to stand for the Soviet National Anthem before every game. Also, Hulk is considering adding an Iranian team, with a mascot that is a flag waiving, horned boot wearing lunatic.

If this fails to gain interest of real american football viewers, Vince will release more tapes of Hogan saying the N word. Viewership should increase in support.

did not know respecting the anthem of one's nation was a left/right issue. Used to be a simple unifying gesture for a minute and a half..I'm guessing you (and everyone on this forum) would be butthurt if a Pitt player announced his high school alma mater on Monday night football instead of Pitt (correct?) during player introductions but would get a pass on not rising to honor America with the playing of the anthem by some. Interesting.

 

[Pitt79]

You are right. The door has been opened. The lack of flow to the game, and some fans are still upset over the National Anthem. If Vince puts this together properly it has a chance. I do not like hockey, so Feb to May would intrigue me.

It's the actual game that turns me off, I don't even think about the politics. I'd even instruct the announcers to not focus on possible referee errors at all, forget the whole line of "we have to look at that again", don't even go there. Don't show replays with the intent of looking for officiating errors, JUST MOVE THE GAME ALONG.

 

[Pitt79]

did not know respecting the anthem of one's nation was a left/right issue. Used to be a simple unifying gesture for a minute and a half..I'm guessing you (and everyone on this forum) would be butthurt if a Pitt player announced his high school alma mater on Monday night football instead of Pitt (correct?) during player introductions but would get a pass on not rising to honor America with the playing of the anthem by some. Interesting.

Hell yeah! I love Pittsburgh more than I love America as a whole.

Like in the '98 Olympics, I rooted for Czech Republic over USA because they had 7 Penguins, and I love the Pens more than Team USA.

 

[happjack]

Rumors so far are that McMahon wants the XFL2 Electric Boogaloo to be a fall league so playing in NFL cities or college towns is going to be an uphill battle. Vince McMahon has failed in every endeavor that wasn't Pro Wrestling and the only reason he made it in the Grunt 'n Groan game is due to who his father was and Hulk Hogan getting pissed at Verne Gagne, if not for those two things he'd still be the guy in the yellow blazer interviewing Bob Backlund.

The idea that droves of pissed off white people will tune into minor league football because they force players to stand for the National Anthem is laughable. Just like XFL1.0 people will tune in to the first game then flip to something else once they see how bad the product on the field is.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

There are so many questions, It's hard to begin to ask them.

l. Where
....A. NFL cities
....B. College towns
........1. FBS
........2. FCS
....C. Regional vs National
........1. SoCal
.......2. Gulf Coast
....D. Large Cities without a current football team
....E. What stadiums
ll. Who
....A. 18 +
....B. College age +
....C. NFL has beens
lll. When
....A. Winter
....B. Spring
lV. Financing
....A. Broadcasting rights
....B. Team Owner's stake
....C. Revenue sharing
V. Coaching
....A. NFL
....B. Major College
Vl. Goal for players
....A. Showcase for NFL
....B. Bigger paycheck
....C. Last chance


I could go on and on, but I find it hard that they will find a niche that works that hasn't already been tried.

People are used to watching either NFL or major college football. Anything that falls short of that standard will be a hard sell. And by standard I mean both standard of play, and game day environment.

Good luck to them, but all I see is a few fortunes being lost by investors / owners.

Edit to try to correct for goofy spacing on this site.

I just dont see anyway that tweaking some rules and playing in cities that dont have NFL teams is going to work. That's been tried. They have to think way outside the box here.

Maybe they could pay big money for kids not eligible for the NFL Draft.....but where does that money come from? For example, what if they could have paid Saquon Barkley $1 million to leave after his freshman or sophomore year? But again, the level of football would still be below the NFL's. Unless they did this on some grand scale where basically the best 500 or so non-draft eligible players were playing in it, then maybe it would have a chance but I would still doubt it.

I think the only way they could do it is for it to be an Alumni Football League or play on party loyalties and appeal to conservatives by bashing the NFL almost like WWF used to bash WCW. As I said, there has to be an emotional attachment. If they can portray the NFL as the Liberal Football League or whatever and theirs as the True American Football League, maybe half the country would at least give it a chance.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

I just dont see anyway that tweaking some rules and playing in cities that dont have NFL teams is going to work. That's been tried. They have to think way outside the box here.

Maybe they could pay big money for kids not eligible for the NFL Draft.....but where does that money come from? For example, what if they could have paid Saquon Barkley $1 million to leave after his freshman or sophomore year? But again, the level of football would still be below the NFL's. Unless they did this on some grand scale where basically the best 500 or so non-draft eligible players were playing in it, then maybe it would have a chance but I would still doubt it.

I think the only way they could do it is for it to be an Alumni Football League or play on party loyalties and appeal to conservatives by bashing the NFL almost like WWF used to bash WCW. As I said, there has to be an emotional attachment. If they can portray the NFL as the Liberal Football League or whatever and theirs as the True American Football League, maybe half the country would at least give it a chance.

I think you way over estimate people's dislike for taking a knee in one league to be a factor in watching another. I fail to see any correlation.

The gimmicks won't work.

If the football is good, they MIGHT stand a small chance of success. If the football is bad, one season would be too long.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Rumors so far are that McMahon wants the XFL2 Electric Boogaloo to be a fall league so playing in NFL cities or college towns is going to be an uphill battle. Vince McMahon has failed in every endeavor that wasn't Pro Wrestling and the only reason he made it in the Grunt 'n Groan game is due to who his father was and Hulk Hogan getting pissed at Verne Gagne, if not for those two things he'd still be the guy in the yellow blazer interviewing Bob Backlund.

The idea that droves of pissed off white people will tune into minor league football because they force players to stand for the National Anthem is laughable. Just like XFL1.0 people will tune in to the first game then flip to something else once they see how bad the product on the field is.

All college sports are inferior to the pro product of that sport. That isn’t the main issue. The key is convincing people to be attached to their team and have an allegiance to it. Can he convince people to spend money on the team, and turn on the TV to watch it?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I just dont see anyway that tweaking some rules and playing in cities that dont have NFL teams is going to work. That's been tried. They have to think way outside the box here.

Maybe they could pay big money for kids not eligible for the NFL Draft.....but where does that money come from? For example, what if they could have paid Saquon Barkley $1 million to leave after his freshman or sophomore year? But again, the level of football would still be below the NFL's. Unless they did this on some grand scale where basically the best 500 or so non-draft eligible players were playing in it, then maybe it would have a chance but I would still doubt it.

I think the only way they could do it is for it to be an Alumni Football League or play on party loyalties and appeal to conservatives by bashing the NFL almost like WWF used to bash WCW. As I said, there has to be an emotional attachment. If they can portray the NFL as the Liberal Football League or whatever and theirs as the True American Football League, maybe half the country would at least give it a chance.

I think you way over estimate people's dislike for taking a knee in one league to be a factor in watching another. I fail to see any correlation.

The gimmicks won't work.

If the football is good, they MIGHT stand a small chance of success. If the football is bad, one season would be too long.

I don't necessarily think it would work, just that it may have a chance. Any other tried-before version just isn't going to work.

Heck, I've said this before but if Im the NCAA, I make the FCS run March-June. I'd actually watch FCS games if they did that.

 

[Pitt79]

If the football is bad, one season would be too long.

So make the football better, create rules that speed up the game and take it out of the officials hands, Offense oriented. I'd be interested in watching high scoring games with almost no involvement by officials, no replays, minimal rules. Be like soccer, constant play, commercials only between quarters.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

The USFL was the one post AFL-NFL merger league that was pretty exciting. They had the right formula -- sign Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and let guys like Mouse Davis have them throw the ball 50 times a game when the NFL was still a little boring in terms of offensive strategy.

But spring/summer football has always struggled. Heck the ABA struggled despite a great product because Americans seem to prefer monopolistic sports for whatever reason, the "one true champion" instead of multiple leagues.

I'd like to see all pro sports in the US have minor leagues with promotion/relegation, but there is no motivation right now for the owners who already own teams to do so and risk relegation.