Sami Jarjour
The NFL is over, but next up in the XFL. While there are a lot of doubters, there are many who believe there is a chance.. Vince McMahon is setting the bar high on his second try of the XFL, preparing himself to spend nearly $400 million on the reboot.
Football isn't finished.
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— XFL (@xfl2020) February 3, 2020
As noted by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon is expected to lose nearly $400 million by bringing back the football league.
“Vince has earmarked $300 million and that’s going to get them through 2.5 seasons and he’ll put up more later,” said Dave Meltzer. “The way this whole thing is structured is Vince is probably going to lose about $375 million over the next 3 years on this league and he will and he knows and that’s what he’s going to do.”
“Then at the end of those 3 years, the idea is he’ll be able to get television deals that will total over $125 million a year which would cover his losses and then he’s okay. There’s a lot of factors involved in that and again, the ratings are one of them. If these stations feel that it’s valuable enough to pay that much, it’s not as long a shot as everyone thinks.”
“People were focused on the $100 million, but the truth is that doesn’t even get us to the 20-yard line,” league CEO and commissioner Oliver Luck told ESPN.
“There are very few participants who underwrite for this market anymore and it is obviously costly,” he continued.
Another interesting point that could make the XFL more intriguing is that ABC/ESPN will allow them to show betting spreads and O/Us on the screen:
FIRST LOOK: ESPN/ABC will feature point spreads + over/under totals during its @xfl2020 coverage this weekend. On-screen 'Score Bug’ will include those popular bets, along with game score, clock, down & distance. Announcers can talk betting lines too. https://t.co/0qOpG2s1HU
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) February 5, 2020
The XFL kicks off its 2020 season on Saturday when the Seattle Dragons take on the DC Defenders, some 19 years after the conclusion of the XFL’s first season in 2001.
