Those first 2 games were wildly successful. Both stadiums looked absolutely packed, and there was a real aura about the games the AAF absolutely did not have. I am so excited for this league.
Let's start working now for an OKC expansion team
Extreme Football League Attendance:
Washington DC drew 17,163 fans to Audi Field (Capacity: 42,822 )
Houston drew an announced crowd of 17,815 to TDECU Stadium (Capacity available: 20,000)
NBC Sports: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...rst-two-games/
Oklahoma City has been mentioned on one website for potential expansion with Wantland Stadium, Edmond & Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, Norman as playing sites.
Wantland Stadium, capacity listed 10,000
Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, capacity listed 80,100
How about Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater as a venue that would attract fans from both Tulsa & OKC.
Boone Pickens Stadium, capacity listed 55,500
You would draw nothing less than 20,000 in Norman or Stillwater with an Oklahoma name attached to the team--Stillwater, you would get a mix of fans from Oklahoma City & Tulsa (2 largest cities) with Dallas & Houston as instant rivals.
Honestly I think Tulsa is the more likely candidate for XFL expansion, Skelly Field would be a perfect venue. That being said, I'm still not convinced that the league is going to last long enough for expansion to come into play.
Tv game today is kind of dull, sorry to say. It needs more .... something. Maybe just seasoning.
I enjoy the transparency of upstairs and the coaches. It makes it seem like the commentators deserve to be there. Also in field interviews were sweet too. Also liked the rules to make the game go faster and encourage going for it on 4th.
I tried watching..... My time is worth a little more so I'll leave it at that.
It's early in the season; so I'm not going to harp on the XFL other than to say that they should have included some markets without pro football like San Diego, San Antonio, Portland with a small market like Birmingham or Tulsa); these cities would have appreciated a franchise more-so than the NFL markets where the NFL has a stranglehold.
All the games I watched came off as low intensity to me. Even the coaches were calm on the sidelines. No one ever even raised their voices. It just seemed very... businesslike.
I did like a lot of what I saw. I was hoping to able to watch the Dallas game with Stoops coaching but it wasn't on OTA tv, so missed that game. The New York game Sunday was the most enjoyable of the games I caught.
1. They will grow after they stabilize the initial startup
2. Having in football havens like Dallas is smart. It captures an existing market of fans. Going to new city have to market the metro to find sustainable fans which is higher gamble.
I loved what I saw. Keep in mind it was like a pre season week 1 NFL game they will get better.
As to OKC, I say never will it happen. Dallas is too close. And most of OK is Dallas fans due to Bob coaching. In a startup league no way will they put a team here or Tulsa it would dilute market.
OKC will be fine; we have $37.5 million for a nice starter venue with expansion potential.
So many factors involved in getting a new league started; just think the XFL should have avoided an all NFL market structure; those fans who felt the void for pro-football would have given the new league a good look with a mix of fresh markets.
St. Louis and San Diego (defunct NFL markets) may be ready for a reset. Keep your eye on St. Louis' embrace of the XFL--Dallas drew a dismal 17,000 at Globe Life, WOW.
My preference, XFL would be in a position to test summer league; then go head-to-head with the NFL as the old AFL did before the merger. I would have used these 8 cities as test summer league markets then challenge the NFL:
EAST: New York, Orlando, Raleigh, Birmingham
WEST: St. Louis, San Diego, San Antonio, Tulsa (Chapman) or OKC (GFMS)
Summer league may work if given time to build brand and reputable players.
Same was said about the NBA in Oklahoma City.
You know what Dallas fears the most--is a nearby market like Oklahoma City or Tulsa becoming a viable football option to Dallas. XFL will not work in Dallas--it's too heavily NFL Cowboy branded.
That's why Mark Cuban voted against relocation of Supersonics to OKC--feared that now those relocated Dallas Okies will tune in to an Oklahoma franchise that will take a bite out-of the Dallas base as evident by the Thunder.
Quit feeding Dallas--Ft. Worth's greedy fat sister is about to burst.
XFL has *no* hope of competing with the NFL on its own terms. They didn't even build themselves up as a *competitor* to the NFL; they were "football in the absence of football." That's how they're marketed and that's how they're going to live. If they try to compete on par with the NFL, they'll lose.
Not meaning to be a Debbie Downer, but they're just not even designed to be competitors. I think they made a conscious decision in that vein.
Whoa. 17k is not dismal at all. You've got to remember, this league isn't trying to directly compete with the NFL, its just trying to create a money making, competitive, professional league during the lame duck period of the NFL. And if they manage 17k per game at each stadium, that's fantastic.
These are first game attendance figures. People were interested in what the XFL rebirth would look like. We have to see what the numbers look like for the rest of the season for an indication of longterm success. Even on this thread, there are 1 or 2 posters who seemed bored with what they watched.
XFL is not competing with NFL its another league in the number 1 sport in America.
Dallas XFL is smart. Existing football fanbase and huge metro to draw from.
Goal of league is to sustain and get ad revenue from TV deals. All games are currently shown on TV but they are not paying XFL revenue yet that will come in future if it sustains. Big money behind it.
I think it will have staying power. And as they sustain its a good place for almost NFL talent to improve and get there. Love all the modifications. Love the seeing play calls in booth and miked up coaches. On field camera. All plays reviewed in real time and they show how its done not hidden.
I also don’t see it working in summer too many people on vaca and other sports. This only goes up vs NBA.
Attendance 69,818
The XFL’s first week is coming to an end and let’s be honest it is fun to watch. I was surprised and the fans are pretty darn amazing. The fans have been pretty supportive and every game broke 17,000 fans for the first week.
St. Louis Battlehawks v. Dallas Renegades – 17,206
Tampa Bay Vipers v. New York Guardians – 17,634
Houston Roughnecks v. LA Wildcats– 17,815
Seattle Dragons v. DC Defenders – 17,163
https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/202...-attendance-6/
The first version of this league, 6 out of 8 teams averaged more than 20k in attendance. The NY team averaged more than 28k. The league failed after 1 year. 17k ain't squat.
XFL (2001) - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFL_(2001)
That league was set up to fail. Nicknames like He Hate Me and too gimmicky plays like the rushing to midfield to get ball to determine start (vice coin toss) meant it was geared to WWE not football.
Keep in mind USFL had success. If managed right and good money backers and TV it has a good chance. And XFL has all of them.
TV is showing games. AFF was on sub channels like NFL network too, doomed from start.
That iteration of the league had to pay larger payrolls too. It was trying to challenge the NFL. This is not. This league doesn't need 20k to sustain its payroll. 17k is plenty to make a team work. That's not the point of this league. I get 17k doesn't compete against the 80k the NFL pulls, and so does the XFL. They get it, they aren't worries about that.
And besides, go read up on fan experiences. DC and Houston fans absolutely LOVED how intimate it was. Dallas and New York left a lot to be desired because they are in stadiums they will never fill. But St. Louis is talking about already having 30k tickets sold for next weekend.
Anyway, the point is, with its payroll and expenses, something between 15 and 20k makes this league completely stable and doable. I hope they can move NY out of Metlife and into the RedBulls stadium. And move Dallas to Frisco at the Dallas FC facility. Those would both be much better and create a much better atmosphere.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks