PFT: The 8 Teams premature

[4th&long]

My take on Florio is he does not have any fresh sources or info. he is just parroting what he has seen elsewhere.

Perhaps - perhaps not, the inks not dry on deal and they still seem to be selling tix in cities like Seattle and Orlando, even Vegas deposits. If the cities were locked down why would they? And even the # of teams. I guess they can try to hold them for a return in 2025 but that sounds pie-in-sky right now.

The bottomline is the merger is not signed. And anything could happen. Upside or downside. The Gov was not the hold up on the plans, and the deal s/h/b signed already. So its either a logistical/contract issues with teams, stadiums and TV Nets or new owners or cold feet? This goes for both. I just think its costing/wasting XFL more.

And as you mentioned Mark - they are losing marketing time.

[MarkNelson]

What was getting at is Florio has zero inside knowledge. He reads the same posts you do.

[Rmbay]

What was getting at is Florio has zero inside knowledge. He reads the same posts you do.

I think the only way he might have inside knowledge is through NBC.

[Firecop]

It is likely some combination of the things mentioned by 4th. If so, that could make things very difficult to accomplish quickly. In turn, that makes marketing increasingly problematic. I agree with another poster, why continue to sell tickets for the Sea Dragons?

[4th&long]

It is likely some combination of the things mentioned by 4th. If so, that could make things very difficult to accomplish quickly. In turn, that makes marketing increasingly problematic. I agree with another poster, why continue to sell tickets for the Sea Dragons?

Agreed.

He's the $64k question. What is holding up the merger? Why are they still operating as if they are going ahead with or without it?

The definite agreement is not signed. No insider or reporter is getting at the why. We hear that the leagues working out the details. Details of ownership? Control? It can't be details of the season because they could merge first and then finalize the details. Are they looking to clean the books and contracts prior to merging to keep as little baggage from pre-merger into the NewLeague?

Or Is each side jostling for a better deal before they merge? Using the "on going" operations as a way get better leverage. There is no doubt the XFL is more expensive to operate and is not getting the TV money USFL was and the USFL is easier to operate. But at the same time USFL just lost NBC. Its almost like the leagues are waiting for the other to blink. Both leagues know they can't both operate independently, only one can, whether thru merger or not.

Its all very odd, especially because all the leaks we've heard have ran the gamut all over the place. Hopefully its all drama and TMI for us fans. If its just the ugly side of making the sausage - that's ok - as long as there's a product at the end of the day ala XFL2020.

[GregParks]

I agree with another poster, why continue to sell tickets for the Sea Dragons?

Possible reasons:

-The merger details aren't official until they're announced. There's probably a degree of CYA going on.
-If the new merged league is serious about bringing back some of these franchises in the future, season ticket buyer info could be valuable when they return in terms of targeting that group first with ticket info
-They want to use the info of season ticket buyers for general marketing purposes. It really doesn't hurt to continue to sell tickets and collect people's info (e-mail addresses and the like) for potential future use.

[4th&long]

I agree with another poster, why continue to sell tickets for the Sea Dragons?

Possible reasons:

-The merger details aren't official until they're announced. There's probably a degree of CYA going on.
-If the new merged league is serious about bringing back some of these franchises in the future, season ticket buyer info could be valuable when they return in terms of targeting that group first with ticket info
-They want to use the info of season ticket buyers for general marketing purposes. It really doesn't hurt to continue to sell tickets and collect people's info (e-mail addresses and the like) for potential future use.

The issue is cost. If continuing to sell to non-2024/2025 markets is costing $$ with no near term horizon for return then its not a productive use of resources.

[Rmbay]

Here's a weird thought. What if the reason they're still selling season tickets in the XFL cities is because the rumors were backwards and it's actually going to be a 12 team league with all 8 XFL teams and the 4 hub USFL teams?

[johnnyangryfuzzball]

Here's a weird thought. What if the reason they're still selling season tickets in the XFL cities is because the rumors were backwards and it's actually going to be a 12 team league with all 8 XFL teams and the 4 hub USFL teams?

I would have a hard time thinking that, especially when this was touted as a merger of equals.

The stadium in New Orleans (Shrine on Airline) has already said they're negotiating with the USFL for the Breakers to call it home. It's probably a little late in the process for that in 2024, but that keeps the Breakers in play and makes 5 USFL teams nominally with a home, assuming Canton returns.

[Rmbay]

Here's a weird thought. What if the reason they're still selling season tickets in the XFL cities is because the rumors were backwards and it's actually going to be a 12 team league with all 8 XFL teams and the 4 hub USFL teams?

I would have a hard time thinking that, especially when this was touted as a merger of equals.

The stadium in New Orleans (Shrine on Airline) has already said they're negotiating with the USFL for the Breakers to call it home. It's probably a little late in the process for that in 2024, but that keeps the Breakers in play and makes 5 USFL teams nominally with a home, assuming Canton returns.

Yeah but a merger of equals doesn't mean all current assets are to be split down the middle and kept that way. Like most mergers they're going to pool together what they feel are the best performing assets, trim the rest and share the costs and profits.

As for stadiums, we also heard the Roughnecks were going to use Rice Stadium until apparently they're not. Those New Orleans stadium negotiations go back a few months, when a merger wasn't practically assured. But even if they did reach an agreement, who is to say they wouldn't take New Orleans over Canton anyway? I know the USFL owes a debt of gratitude to Canton, but Mauler games didn't particularly draw there at all.

There's also been hints at re-branding. You could take the Gamblers and move that franchise to Ohio or Nashville or Denver or somewhere else in place of, say, Vegas. Then it might be 7 XFL teams to 5 USFL teams.

If I had to bet, I'd still say 8 teams. I think that's what the original draft of this new league was and why those rumors persist. But it wouldn't shock me in the least if they've been spending the past few months trying hard to make 12 happen for a number of reasons.