Murdoch says fox plans on building up and selling teams for the next 5-7 years

[MGB01]

Another potential problem is the league running straight into the World Cup in 2026 (provided, of course), and where they at least have the advantages with the women's cup next year of it being a month later and in Australia (in which everything here will be prime time or overnight) no such luck as the '26 Cup will be in North America--mostly US, which in addition to TV slots could also put a crimp on venues.

[GDAWG]

Another potential problem is the league running straight into the World Cup in 2026 (provided, of course), and where they at least have the advantages with the women's cup next year of it being a month later and in Australia (in which everything here will be prime time or overnight) no such luck as the '26 Cup will be in North America--mostly US, which in addition to TV slots could also put a crimp on venues.

MLB and MLS will also have to deal with it. I would assume MLS takes a break but MLB would take a hit on attendance.

[GregParks]

I’m willing to hedge a bet that the XFL owners are no different. They want to build the league so they can sell franchises. Making a huge return on their investment. Don’t be disappointed if they say this is about football, because it is only partially about football.

I believe in my heart McMahon had more interest in the game of football. WWE shareholders saw it as an investment.

The Rock at least was in the same position a lot of these players are in, so he can relate to their struggles and their desire to have a place to play football and make a living. I truly don't think Vince McMahon could name a half-dozen current NFL players. Go back to his 2001 XFL press conference and when asked, the only players he could name were from decades before. He's famous for having little to no real-world current events knowledge outside of WWE and its business interests, which he lives and breathes 24/7.

Both ownership groups probably want(ed) to cash in on the exploding TV rights fees for sports. But in terms of which really has more interest in the game of football, I fall on the side of the the new ownership.

[Tank55]

It was clearly a passion project for McMahon, but I think it's fair to say that the root of the passion was in promoting live entertainment rather than football itself.

[GregParks]

It was clearly a passion project for McMahon, but I think it's fair to say that the root of the passion was in promoting live entertainment rather than football itself.

I think that's probably a fair way to put it.

[MGB01]

I’m willing to hedge a bet that the XFL owners are no different. They want to build the league so they can sell franchises. Making a huge return on their investment. Don’t be disappointed if they say this is about football, because it is only partially about football.

I believe in my heart McMahon had more interest in the game of football. WWE shareholders saw it as an investment.

The Rock at least was in the same position a lot of these players are in, so he can relate to their struggles and their desire to have a place to play football and make a living. I truly don't think Vince McMahon could name a half-dozen current NFL players. Go back to his 2001 XFL press conference and when asked, the only players he could name were from decades before. He's famous for having little to no real-world current events knowledge outside of WWE and its business interests, which he lives and breathes 24/7.

Both ownership groups probably want(ed) to cash in on the exploding TV rights fees for sports. But in terms of which really has more interest in the game of football, I fall on the side of the the new ownership.

Goes back to Have a Nice Day where Mick Foley relays a conversation with Jim Cornette from 1995, (JC) telling him "Vince is too busy to watch matches from New Japan"--or the Antonio Callaway "revelations" where I pointed out that he's way too busy to pay attention to a "big name" receiver that Freddie Kitchens punished by leaving him in a preseason game. He might be able to tell you six Cowboys cause of his relationship with Jerry Jones, that might be it.

Granted it never reached Trump levels of JoePa in Pittsburgh (forget Sandusky, he was always seen as the enemy of Pitt football from canceling the series to keeping them out of the Big Ten) or Brady in Baltimore, but it did often times get to 'really?' status. On the flip side he knew enough to take the proper approach to XFL2.0.

[laxtreme56]

Vince may have also felt slighted when his offer to buy the Minnesota Vikings, and then the CFL were rejected. XFL 1.0 was basically a F*ck you to the NFL and the establishment, but the league proved to be all sizzle and no steak. When you really break it down, Vince hasn't had any real success outside of WWE (not that that's necessarily a bad thing, he is a billionaire fwiw). His list of "failures" include; ICOPRO, WBF, XFL 1.0/2.0, WWE Times Square, WWE Studios.

[Tank55]

XFL 1.0 had plenty of steak; the sizzle just burned too many food critics.

[MGB01]

But has WWE studios really been a failure though? it's seemed to do what it's been intended to do, promote its stars (and its origins go all the way back to No Holds Barred, crap movie yes but entertaining cult-crap). Plus a few movies have actually turned a profit (although that's kind of dropping the bar since they're producing on the cheap here), and they've had/have content on HBO, Netflix, and Peacock in the last four years.

The WBF, which at its end was a planned backdoor attempt to get Lex Luger into the WWF (he was still under contract to WCW), was in a way a success to some people: It got the rare McMahon apology to Joe Weider.

[laxtreme56]

But has WWE studios really been a failure though? it's seemed to do what it's been intended to do, promote its stars (and its origins go all the way back to No Holds Barred, crap movie yes but entertaining cult-crap). Plus a few movies have actually turned a profit (although that's kind of dropping the bar since they're producing on the cheap here), and they've had/have content on HBO, Netflix, and Peacock in the last four years.

The WBF, which at its end was a planned backdoor attempt to get Lex Luger into the WWF (he was still under contract to WCW), was in a way a success to some people: It got the rare McMahon apology to Joe Weider.

I'm speaking more financially from a dollars and cents standpoint. I do believe WWE Studios did start to turn a small profit, but mostly from lowering productions costs. It's still operated in the red more than black however and at far larger deficits. WWE has been McMahon's only profitable endeavor is what I'm getting at.