http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23702...er-ceo-xfl

Interesting career move...

Hope the azzhole fails miserably

If the XFL is going to be successful they will need solid leadership. The AAF has already beat them to 7 markets that I think are going to be ideal spring league sites. The best options left are:

San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
St Louis
Oakland
Hartford
New Jersey
Columbus
Raleigh
D.C.
Chicago
Miami
Little Rock
L'ville
Tulsa

One thing this does.

Football people are going to view the XFL as a more serious effort. That makes a difference if Joe Smith from North Carolina is weighing near identical offers from XFL and AAF.

Certainly a big-name hire for the XFL. He knows the business, has many contacts, and - perhaps most importantly - is a true football mind, something that Vince McMahon does not have. If McMahon can allow Luck to truly run the organization of the league, it may have a long-term chance. If he gets over-involved, like he tends to do in the WWE, it may blow up.

The AAF targeted past head coaches - Spurrier, Erickson, Martz, Childress, Singletary and Neuheisel - to lead their franchise. I wonder if the XFL will attempt something similar, or attempt to throw money at younger assistant position coaches in hopes of getting them head coaching experience in advance of a potential NFL run. I think of guys like Matt LaFleur, Kevin O'Connell, Zac Taylor, Dave Ragone, Marquand Manuel, among others.

(06-05-2018 01:18 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  If the XFL is going to be successful they will need solid leadership. The AAF has already beat them to 7 markets that I think are going to be ideal spring league sites. The best options left are:

San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
St Louis
Oakland
Hartford
New Jersey
Columbus
Raleigh
D.C.
Chicago
Miami
Little Rock
L'ville
Tulsa

Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

(06-05-2018 01:18 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  If the XFL is going to be successful they will need solid leadership. The AAF has already beat them to 7 markets that I think are going to be ideal spring league sites. The best options left are:

San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
St Louis
Oakland
Hartford
New Jersey
Columbus
Raleigh
D.C.
Chicago
Miami
Little Rock
L'ville
Tulsa

With the Citrus Bowl/Camping World Stadium still sitting open and Vince's economic commitment to Orlando with the WWE Performance Center at Full Sail University, I don't see why not also place a team in Orlando and tout the fact that you can have a greater tailgate than at UCF. Vince loves the competition, so going head to head in a city is something he would clearly try to do.

Meanwhile, Luck's video indicated that they sent RFIs to 30 markets, as opposed to Charlie Ebersol taking the "easy way out" and trying to place teams in retread cities which have been part of nearly every alt-football attempt since the WFL: Birmingham (4 former teams), Memphis (4 teams), Orlando (5) and if San Antonio is picked, another 4 previous teams.

Now Luck was making $650K at WVU and slightly more at the NCAA (IIRC, $670K and a $150K bonus in 2016), so we kinda know what Vince is paying since Luck wasn't going to take much of a paycut.

(06-05-2018 02:52 PM)Renandpat Wrote:  With the Citrus Bowl/Camping World Stadium still sitting open and Vince's economic commitment to Orlando with the WWE Performance Center at Full Sail University, I don't see why not also place a team in Orlando and tout the fact that you can have a greater than at UCF. Vince loves the competition, so going head to head in a city is something he would clearly try to do.

Which is why I advocate having the entire league in Orlando and having all games at one site in the way that Full Sail's arena is used for NXT tapings. Especially since there's not going to be outside ownership of teams. Just come up with a handful of team names and treat the thing like a television production instead of trying to run a national league and hoping that Hartford-Tulsa game gets more than 5,000 in a 40,000-seat stadium.

(06-05-2018 02:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

Well... it depends. You can’t penetrate a saturated market. New York or LA would be pointless despite the diverse demographics. But areas with strong demand cannot be ignored.

Obviously St Louis and San Antonio jump out. Maybe Oakland if the Raiders are gone. But I still like Houston and New Orleans. Tampa Bay or Orlando... I think you can have a East West setup.

West: St Louis, NO, Houston/Dallas, San Antonio/OKC
East: Columbus/Memphis, Richmond/Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta

Oakland San Diego Tampa Bay also decent but I would avoid Cali.

I don't know if St. Louis would be viable in the Winter/Spring league market. That's convention season at the Dome. Those events are money makers.

CFL season would be perfect for St. Louis in all honesty.

(06-05-2018 04:47 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 02:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

Well... it depends. You can’t penetrate a saturated market. New York or LA would be pointless despite the diverse demographics. But areas with strong demand cannot be ignored.

Obviously St Louis and San Antonio jump out. Maybe Oakland if the Raiders are gone. But I still like Houston and New Orleans. Tampa Bay or Orlando... I think you can have a East West setup.

West: St Louis, NO, Houston/Dallas, San Antonio/OKC
East: Columbus/Memphis, Richmond/Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta

Oakland San Diego Tampa Bay also decent but I would avoid Cali.

There's a few problems with some of your markets:

OKC, Richmond, and Charlotte all like stadiums with suitable capacity that aren't already controlled by the NFL while the AAF has already beat them to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Looking at the map, the only truly good western market left that the AAF hasn't beat them to is Oakland and I think that market only really shines once the Raiders are actually gone.

The best southeastern markets, outside of Texas are also spoken for. At this point you're looking at small markets like L'ville, Tulsa, and Little Rock; a market that has a bad track record for supporting sport in Raliegh, and then there's Miami.

The cold weather markets are still free but if your hope is to make profits on gate receipts that's not the time of year to play.


At this point I think Ebersol and McMahon need to mend their fences and combine their efforts. Launch with 8 teams in 2019 and then have McMahon come in 2020 with 4-8 expansion teams.

(06-05-2018 07:45 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 04:47 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 02:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

Well... it depends. You can’t penetrate a saturated market. New York or LA would be pointless despite the diverse demographics. But areas with strong demand cannot be ignored.

Obviously St Louis and San Antonio jump out. Maybe Oakland if the Raiders are gone. But I still like Houston and New Orleans. Tampa Bay or Orlando... I think you can have a East West setup.

West: St Louis, NO, Houston/Dallas, San Antonio/OKC
East: Columbus/Memphis, Richmond/Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta

Oakland San Diego Tampa Bay also decent but I would avoid Cali.

There's a few problems with some of your markets:

OKC, Richmond, and Charlotte all like stadiums with suitable capacity that aren't already controlled by the NFL while the AAF has already beat them to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Looking at the map, the only truly good western market left that the AAF hasn't beat them to is Oakland and I think that market only really shines once the Raiders are actually gone.

The best southeastern markets, outside of Texas are also spoken for. At this point you're looking at small markets like L'ville, Tulsa, and Little Rock; a market that has a bad track record for supporting sport in Raliegh, and then there's Miami.

The cold weather markets are still free but if your hope is to make profits on gate receipts that's not the time of year to play.


At this point I think Ebersol and McMahon need to mend their fences and combine their efforts. Launch with 8 teams in 2019 and then have McMahon come in 2020 with 4-8 expansion teams.

Maps matter little since Ebersol still went to three retread cities of spring league failures. This league is contingent on the gate because they're not going to get much from states in terms of gambling monies. Remember just one game a week is to air on TV, the other three will reportedly by streamed via their app (no selling rights to the local RSN).

Memphis come February will be centered on the Tigers and Penny Hardaway.

The fact that with one city left and Ebersol's largest market is Atlanta is very, very telling. Heck, even placing a team there as Atlanta United FC is drawing 49,000/game is so risky. No major markets also indicates CBS/CBSSN has little on the line in terms of costs. It's likely just $100K/game in production costs.

Put a team in Cleveland. If they win at least one game I guarantee they will gain more than the Browns.

(06-05-2018 08:06 PM)Renandpat Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 07:45 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 04:47 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 02:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

Well... it depends. You can’t penetrate a saturated market. New York or LA would be pointless despite the diverse demographics. But areas with strong demand cannot be ignored.

Obviously St Louis and San Antonio jump out. Maybe Oakland if the Raiders are gone. But I still like Houston and New Orleans. Tampa Bay or Orlando... I think you can have a East West setup.

West: St Louis, NO, Houston/Dallas, San Antonio/OKC
East: Columbus/Memphis, Richmond/Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta

Oakland San Diego Tampa Bay also decent but I would avoid Cali.

There's a few problems with some of your markets:

OKC, Richmond, and Charlotte all like stadiums with suitable capacity that aren't already controlled by the NFL while the AAF has already beat them to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Looking at the map, the only truly good western market left that the AAF hasn't beat them to is Oakland and I think that market only really shines once the Raiders are actually gone.

The best southeastern markets, outside of Texas are also spoken for. At this point you're looking at small markets like L'ville, Tulsa, and Little Rock; a market that has a bad track record for supporting sport in Raliegh, and then there's Miami.

The cold weather markets are still free but if your hope is to make profits on gate receipts that's not the time of year to play.


At this point I think Ebersol and McMahon need to mend their fences and combine their efforts. Launch with 8 teams in 2019 and then have McMahon come in 2020 with 4-8 expansion teams.

Maps matter little since Ebersol still went to three retread cities of spring league failures. This league is contingent on the gate because they're not going to get much from states in terms of gambling monies.

Memphis come February will be centered on the Tigers and Penny Hardaway.

The fact that with one city left and Ebersol's largest market is Atlanta is very, very telling. Heck, even placing a team there as Atlanta United FC is drawing 49,000/game is so risky. No major markets also indicates CBS/CBSSN has little on the line in terms of costs. It's likely just $100K/game in production costs.

I actually think he's been pretty smart with his team placement. This league is not built on tv revenue so big markets isn't necessarily critical. The key is finding football hungry markets where weather from February-April is suitable for fans to sit outdoors:

Orlando--one of the biggest non-NFL markets
San Diego--full of disenfranchised Charger fans
Memphis and Birmingham--small markets but in the "SEC" belt that loves football
Atlanta--Biggest market in football's highest per capita fan region

Salt Lake and Phoenix are markets that could prove to be successful. Utahns love U of Utah and BYU and if they can tap into those fan bases they should do well. Phoenix is a big city and should deliver ideal game day weather--we will have to wait to see what kind of turn out shows up.

(06-05-2018 08:06 PM)Renandpat Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 07:45 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 04:47 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 02:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Lots of great cities out there who have no NFL team. These new leagues always try to place teams in existing NFL markets, which to me is an epic fail. They will be page seven sports news. Spring is NFL draft season. Guess what fan focus will be on? Select cities hungry for pro football and not spoiled by the NFL.

Well... it depends. You can’t penetrate a saturated market. New York or LA would be pointless despite the diverse demographics. But areas with strong demand cannot be ignored.

Obviously St Louis and San Antonio jump out. Maybe Oakland if the Raiders are gone. But I still like Houston and New Orleans. Tampa Bay or Orlando... I think you can have a East West setup.

West: St Louis, NO, Houston/Dallas, San Antonio/OKC
East: Columbus/Memphis, Richmond/Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta

Oakland San Diego Tampa Bay also decent but I would avoid Cali.

There's a few problems with some of your markets:

OKC, Richmond, and Charlotte all like stadiums with suitable capacity that aren't already controlled by the NFL while the AAF has already beat them to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Looking at the map, the only truly good western market left that the AAF hasn't beat them to is Oakland and I think that market only really shines once the Raiders are actually gone.

The best southeastern markets, outside of Texas are also spoken for. At this point you're looking at small markets like L'ville, Tulsa, and Little Rock; a market that has a bad track record for supporting sport in Raliegh, and then there's Miami.

The cold weather markets are still free but if your hope is to make profits on gate receipts that's not the time of year to play.


At this point I think Ebersol and McMahon need to mend their fences and combine their efforts. Launch with 8 teams in 2019 and then have McMahon come in 2020 with 4-8 expansion teams.

Maps matter little since Ebersol still went to three retread cities of spring league failures. This league is contingent on the gate because they're not going to get much from states in terms of gambling monies. Remember just one game a week is to air on TV, the other three will reportedly by streamed via their app (no selling rights to the local RSN).

Memphis come February will be centered on the Tigers and Penny Hardaway.

The fact that with one city left and Ebersol's largest market is Atlanta is very, very telling. Heck, even placing a team there as Atlanta United FC is drawing 49,000/game is so risky. No major markets also indicates CBS/CBSSN has little on the line in terms of costs. It's likely just $100K/game in production costs.

I would expect at least four XFL cities to be off the top 8 markets list: New York, Chicago, LA, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, Houston and San Francisco/Oakland.

You have to think that with FOX getting Smackdown, that FS1 might be a home for the XFL.