News And Notes From Oliver Luck's Press Interviews

[MikeMitchell]

XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck has been doing the media rounds since The XFL's 8 cities were officially revealed. It's been mostly in the markets that were selected. I am looking forward to his interview on Sports Business Radio on Thursday December 13th. He is the featured guest on that event/show. Hopefully some more news breaks. I am also looking forward to him being on The ThisisTheXFLShow podcast. He was on that show in the past and those guys are at the forefront right now when it comes to XFL coverage. 45 straight weeks of it since Vince McMahon announced the relaunch back in January.

Here are some news and notes from several of Oliver Luck's interviews since this past Wednesday. Once you get past a lot of the company lines and mission statements of The XFL. There are some hidden gems in these interviews. I am surprised people didn't ask about team divisions. Most asked about Andrew Luck and his book club.

TEAM NAMES

Some news on this front. It doesn't sound like a fan vote is in the works. If it is put up to a vote, it will probably be after the league has trademarked names that have already been selected. When Oliver Luck was asked about this on Houston Radio. He mentioned the WWE's marketing team, trademark laws and how the XFL has a research group in every market that will help decide on team names based on cultural things that fit each market. One of The Houston hosts tried to push for The Houston 'Space Force". Oliver shot that one down politely. The news of team names is probably not going to be revealed for a few weeks. It feels like not until January. Luck mentioned marketing groups that will help determine logos, colors etc...

The key in all of this is who The XFL's uniform outfitter will be. The last time the XFL had their uniforms and helmets done, it was by Champion and Bike. That's not a misspelling. It was Bike not Nike. The league hasn't announced sponsors. This is a broad topic in and of itself. Does the league look for specific helmets like Zero 1, helmets designed for player safety. They have to look cool and still be advanced in the player safety department.


ROSTERS

Most markets are reporting this as 40 man rosters. The XFL has it listed as 45 man rosters. There was an article in Houston by Craig Hlavaty, that listed a 7 man practice squad with a 45 player roster. The area where I'm confused is the centralized "Team Nine". Players under contract to replenish rosters as needed. I have no clue what that is. Hopefully someone asks Oliver about it.

The XFL is going to get a jump on their rosters early in the 1st quarter of 2019. Essentially the first few months. The area they are targeting is quarterback. So they are not waiting on quarterbacks. They want to get QB's and Head Coaches done first before they build the rest of the rosters.

That's going to be a key with this league in it's marketing, ticket selling and credibility. What this all means is that whomever is available with a pedigree at the position is going to be targeted early on. That probably means CFL Free Agents. Their free agency period starts on February 19th.

Oliver Luck hinted at the possibility of NFL practice squad players being on XFL Rosters. This might take some convincing by The XFL. Signing a player and asking him to sit out 2019 and wait to play until February of 2020. The highest paid player on an XFL team is going to be 250 to 300k a season not counting win bonuses. An NFL practice squad player averages 125 k a season if he remains on the active roster. One thing, i caught from the This is The XFL Show post conference video done on YouTube, was that The XFL would ask a player to not sign with an NFL team until after the first XFL season. Not sure if i heard that correctly. That would essentially mean a 2 year deal if a QB is signed in February of 2019 for example. The player would obviously start being paid as soon as he is signed. The idea is that the team's starting qb will be asked to be an ambassador for his market in promotions and in interaction with fans.

If you look at The AAF, two of their projected starting QB's have signed on with NFL teams. San Diego's 1st pick in their QB draft, Josh Johnson has signed on with The Redskins to back up Mark Sanchez. A few months back, Salt Lake's Garrett Grayson signed on to The Broncos practice squad.

This is going to be a tricky area for The XFL to navigate. The feeling is that both The AAF and XFL will target Johnny Manziel when his CFL contract expires in February of 2020, but could one of these leagues convince Manziel to ask for his release to come back to the states now. Manziel would get paid but in an XFL Scenario, he'd have to wait till February of 2020 to play. The problem with waiting out Johnny's CFL deal to expire, is that it expires after the XFL season starts in 2020 and you have to cross your fingers that he doesn't get hurt. The time to target him is now if you truly want a QB repping that market and helping push ticket sales.


MISCELLANEOUS

Oliver Luck mentioned in an interview that it was down to 21 markets before the XFL settled on their initial 8.... When asked by Peter Schwartz about The NY franchise playing at Red Bull Arena in Harrison. Luck stated that it was up for consideration but that MetLife was more suited for football..... Oliver also talked about briefly their ideas for some of their larger venues. On Seattle radio, he mentioned that the league will do what The Sounders do when playing at Century Link Field. Which is basically tarping off the stadium. Luck stated that this is what they will do in the early going. Taking a page from what The MLS does in larger venues. Audi Field was mentioned as Luck's favorite venue in a few interviews. How he thinks it's going to have a great intimate feel where fans can hear the qb make play calls.... The TV rights package was again hyped as being on a traditional broadcast network with cable also involved. No hints on where they will end up..... Luck was asked about Colin Kaepernick by Tiki Barber. Oliver did a great job dancing around this question. He admitted that he would probably have to talk to Vince McMahon about it first. Luck essentially stated that all potential players will be up for review. He briefly mentioned Colin's willingness and readiness but framed it as a physical thing rather than the whole political viewpoint. Oliver didn't shoot it down completely but it doesn't sound likely. One last thing to note when talking about the on field ideas that The XFL may implement. He mentioned getting used to seeing offensive players go in motion before the snap when watching CFL games. This is something the original XFL had to an extent. It wasn't multiple receivers moving towards the line of scrimmage like the CFL, it was only one. This might be a part of the XFL in 2020.

[XFL_FAN]

So the team names are going to be based on the city... So I'm guessing It'll be the New York Empires. Houston Space Force is obviously politically based, and that's why Luck shot it down. Also it doesn't sound good. "Team Nine" is an interesting concept... We'll see what happens but I'm really not expecting any big news until January.

[MikeMitchell]

So the team names are going to be based on the city... So I'm guessing It'll be the New York Empires. Houston Space Force is obviously politically based, and that's why Luck shot it down. Also it doesn't sound good. "Team Nine" is an interesting concept... We'll see what happens but I'm really not expecting any big news until January.

Two tag lines were used in those city videos. Perhaps I am reading too much into it but New York was “where empires are grown”. That lends itself to Empire, Empires or even Emperors.

Houston was “where great things launch”. The Houston Launchers perhaps. It’s space themed but that’s probably too close to The Rockets name.

There is a rumor online about Seattle being called Steelheads after the fish but that could also be the NHL’s team name.

[XFL_FAN]

So the team names are going to be based on the city... So I'm guessing It'll be the New York Empires. Houston Space Force is obviously politically based, and that's why Luck shot it down. Also it doesn't sound good. "Team Nine" is an interesting concept... We'll see what happens but I'm really not expecting any big news until January.

Two tag lines were used in those city videos. Perhaps I am reading too much into it but New York was “where empires are grown”. That lends itself to Empire, Empires or even Emperors.

Houston was “where great things launch”. The Houston Launchers perhaps. It’s space themed but that’s probably too close to The Rockets name.

There is a rumor online about Seattle being called Steelheads after the fish but that could also be the NHL’s team name.

Remember Oliver Luck said that Seattle is the "Emerald City". Seattle Emeralds maybe?

[MikeMitchell]

So the team names are going to be based on the city... So I'm guessing It'll be the New York Empires. Houston Space Force is obviously politically based, and that's why Luck shot it down. Also it doesn't sound good. "Team Nine" is an interesting concept... We'll see what happens but I'm really not expecting any big news until January.

Two tag lines were used in those city videos. Perhaps I am reading too much into it but New York was “where empires are grown”. That lends itself to Empire, Empires or even Emperors.

Houston was “where great things launch”. The Houston Launchers perhaps. It’s space themed but that’s probably too close to The Rockets name.

There is a rumor online about Seattle being called Steelheads after the fish but that could also be the NHL’s team name.

Remember Oliver Luck said that Seattle is the "Emerald City". Seattle Emeralds maybe?

An emerald will probably be in the logo for sure. One of the team colors as well.

[XFL_FAN]

I actually like the idea of the Seattle Emeralds:

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I actually like the idea of the Seattle Emeralds:

[MikeMitchell]

I actually like the idea of the Seattle Emeralds:
a14ac610-fa02-408f-a55b-0fb2f4d8c612 (1).jpega14ac610-fa02-408f-a55b-0fb2f4d8c612 (2).jpegScreenshot 2018-12-07 at 6.07.15 PM.pngI actually like the idea of the Seattle Emeralds:

Pretty cool and simple. It has an 80's video game feel to it.

[XFL_FAN]

Pretty cool and simple. It has an 80's video game feel to it.

Agree. I just saw some name ideas on Twitter and here are my consensus favorites:

St. Louis Clydesdales (Nickname would be the "Clydes")
New York Empires (Where Empires are born)
Washington DC Generals (Capital of the country)
Tampa Bay Tridents (Sea)

Houston Comets (Great Things Launch)
Seattle Emeralds (Emerald City)
LA Gladiators (Glamour Meets "Grit")
Dallas Marshalls (Marshalls would work because Texas )

[MikeMitchell]

Pretty cool and simple. It has an 80's video game feel to it.

Agree. I just saw some name ideas on Twitter and here are my consensus favorites:

St. Louis Clydesdales (Nickname would be the "Clydes")
New York Empires (Where Empires are born)
Washington DC Generals (Capital of the country)
Tampa Bay Tridents (Sea)

Houston Comets (Great Things Launch)
Seattle Emeralds (Emerald City)
LA Gladiators (Glamour Meets "Grit")
Dallas Marshalls (Marshalls would work because Texas )

All those names are perfectly fine. I am all in on names that best reflect the market and sound cool. LA Gladiators back in the day was voted as being the choice for LA's original team name back in 2001 here on XFLBoard.


The Clydesdales name and Emeralds are perfect.