Posted in: TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, coronavirus, espn, football, nbc, streaming, television, tv, Vince McMahon, wwe, xfl, xfl cancled, xfl gone

XFL Ceases Operations with No 2021 Return Plans

The XFL might be gone again. The pro football league created by WWE's Vince McMahon has fired nearly all of its employees as of Friday morning, according to ESPN sources. They are also reporting that the league has no plans to return in 2021. This puts an end to the return of the XFL, which first came about in a partnership between Vince McMahon and NBC in 2001, and lasted only one season. Sadly, it looks like the same has happened again, with any momentum the league had created derailed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Back on March 12th, when all of the other sports leagues were also canceling or postponing their seasons, the XFL joined in and ended their season as well. That was really the date that spelled doom for the new league.

Being that it was the league's first season, the television ratings were pretty solid, with most games averaging over 2 million viewers and attendance in cities like Seattle, St, Louis, New York, and LA all high. The problem was that right when people started to notice that the product was much different and much improved this time around, they had to stop playing games. The league said as much in their official statement, while also thanking the fans for their support: "The COVID-19 pandemic, and the most recent local and state regulations, have left the XFL no choice but to officially cancel the remainder of the 2020 season. This decision has been made with the health and safety of the entire XFL family as our top priority. While we are disappointed to not complete the 2020 season, our hearts are full of appreciation for your overwhelming support."

The XFL Cancelled Its Season on March 12th

No, this time out they focused on football and speeding up the game and kept the oversize personalities and WWE ties out of it. What followed in that decision was a much more competitive, entertaining league with some honestly good football. The production values were there, and fans were really starting to take notice that this could be a viable football league. Instead, once again, we are left wondering what could have been. Maybe the XFL will return a third time. Vince is above all else stubborn.

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