XFL Strikes TV Deals With Fox and Disney
06 May 2019 - 11:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Vince McMahon's reboot of the XFL has struck television deals
with Fox Corp. and Walt Disney Co. and will make its debut one week
after next year's Super Bowl, the companies said Monday.
Terms of the three-year deal weren't disclosed, but people
familiar with the matter said no cash is changing hands. Disney and
Fox will keep all the television advertising inventory for the
games and cover production costs while the football league will
sell sponsorships, the people said.
All of the league's 43 games will be televised either on
broadcast or cable, the companies said. More than half will be
split between Disney's ABC network and the Fox network, while
Disney's ESPN and Fox's Fox Sports 1 will be the cable homes. The
majority of games will be played on Saturday and Sunday
afternoons.
The pacts with Disney and Fox are a validation for Mr. McMahon's
big bet almost 20 years after the XFL's first iteration -- which
lasted just one season marked by lackluster play and poor
ratings.
The TV deals ensure that the XFL, which will feature eight teams
in major markets, will be in a position to get strong sampling. The
first game will air on Saturday, Feb. 8, on Fox, one week after the
network covers the National Football League's Super Bowl LIV.
"This is probably the strongest TV schedule for a new sports
property ever," said Alan Gold, a partner at Creative Artists
Agency's advisory and investment arm Evolution Capital, in an
interview. "To clear out 75 hours of network TV on Saturdays and
Sundays is really important." Mr. Gold and CAA agent Nick Khan
negotiated on behalf of the XFL.
Mr. MacMahon, the chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment
Inc., is putting about $500 million of his own money into the XFL
to get it off the ground, people close to the league said. The XFL
is owned by Mr. McMahon's Alpha Entertainment LLC, in which the WWE
has a minority stake.
"We feel their business plan is solid," said Fox Sports National
Networks President Mark Silverman. He said he expects the
partnership to be profitable for Fox.
While the networks and the XFL are confident, success isn't a
lock. The most recent effort at spring football -- the Alliance of
American Football -- shut down earlier this year and filed for
bankruptcy without even finishing its maiden season.
When the XFL first launched in 2001, Mr. McMahon, in a dig to
the NFL, promised a tougher game with bigger hits. Players were
allowed to put nicknames on the backs of their jerseys such as Rod
Smart's "He Hate Me" and Jamal Duff's "Death Blow." The
cheerleaders were scantily clad, even by cheerleader standards.
But the quality of play on the field was lackluster, and the
ratings on NBC and the now-defunct UPN Network were tiny. The
league folded soon after its first season wrapped, and its losses
were in the $50 million range, The Wall Street Journal reported at
the time.
This time around, the XFL is promising to focus more on the
product on the field and not the hype off it. Unlike the first XFL,
the league isn't promoting the idea that its game will be more
violent, and it is trying to find ways to limit collisions,
particularly on punts and kickoffs.
"We want to be a responsible member of the football ecosystem in
this country," said XFL Commissioner and Chief Executive Oliver
Luck. "This is entirely different," said Jeffrey Pollack, president
and chief operating officer of the new league.
One goal the XFL has to differentiate itself from the NFL is
shorter games. The league wants to keep games under three hours and
will do that with a shorter play clock and what it hopes will be
faster instant-replay reviews. The XFL's rules haven't been
announced yet. Neither have the rosters for the league's eight
teams.
Given that the XFL is mostly steering clear of prime time during
its first season, there won't be pressure to deliver big ratings.
The television audience has fragmented tremendously since the first
XFL, meaning the bar is much lower for success. In addition, the
league's 12-week schedule runs during a time when there is a lull
in big sporting events.
"Their real competition is only March Madness," said Marc Ganis,
a sports-media consultant. Mr. Ganis said the investment from Mr.
McMahon and the hiring of Mr. Pollack gives the XFL "the best
chance of success of any spring league initiative we have
seen."
Mr. Ganis said he still believes the new XFL will face an uphill
battle and warned that the costs to keep a football league afloat
are huge and that "often gets lost in irrational exuberance."
Both Fox Sports and ESPN are convinced the second time will be
the charm for the XFL.
"The effort Vince is throwing behind it with his own personal
capital and the combination of Fox and Disney platforms give us the
best chance to make spring football work," said ESPN programming
chief Burke Magnus. He added that Mr. McMahon has made clear that
there won't be "the gimmicks and hokey aspects of the first go
around."
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2019 08:59 ET (12:59 GMT)
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