CalifYanksFan
05-10-01, 06:36 PM
Thursday May 10 6:59 PM ET
WWF Folds the XFL
By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - X-it, stage left.
The XFL (news - web sites) folded Thursday after one season that was a critical and TV ratings disappointment for the football league founded by the World Wrestling Federation and jointly owned by NBC.
``We're discontinuing the XFL,'' WWF spokesman Judd Everhart said.
Despite many adjustments during the season, very little worked for the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener and the April 21 championship game, which was watched by about 75 percent fewer people than the debut on NBC.
The final game's national rating was a 2.1, tying for 93rd place among prime-time shows that week and lower than anything else on the four major networks. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million TV homes.
At stadiums, the eight-team league said it sold about 1 million tickets, but the championship game drew a crowd of only 24,153 to the 90,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum.
``Launching a new football league in such a short time period was a daunting and exciting challenge, but we gave it our best shot,'' said NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who had hoped to proved his network with football after it lost its NFL rights contract after the 1997 season.
The XFL, though, didn't seem to be able to decide whether it wanted to be more about sport or spectacle.
Early games had lascivious cheerleader shots, anti-NFL bluster from WWF types, sophomoric double entendres and screaming announcers - including Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former WWF wrestler - who sounded more like shills than analysts. By the end, most of that nonsense was gone.
The XFL even sped up games after a double-overtime contest in Week 2 delayed ``Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV).'' Other rules changes came as late as the playoffs, and tinkering with the production side never ceased.
Although the quality of the football might have improved during the season, it was telling that the league's MVP, Tommy Maddox, threw more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns during a brief NFL career.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would have no comment - a position the NFL has maintained throughout the XFL's existence.
Yahoo Sports (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010510/sp/fbx_xfl_folds_4.html)
Arena football can breathe easier now. :D
WWF Folds the XFL
By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - X-it, stage left.
The XFL (news - web sites) folded Thursday after one season that was a critical and TV ratings disappointment for the football league founded by the World Wrestling Federation and jointly owned by NBC.
``We're discontinuing the XFL,'' WWF spokesman Judd Everhart said.
Despite many adjustments during the season, very little worked for the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener and the April 21 championship game, which was watched by about 75 percent fewer people than the debut on NBC.
The final game's national rating was a 2.1, tying for 93rd place among prime-time shows that week and lower than anything else on the four major networks. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million TV homes.
At stadiums, the eight-team league said it sold about 1 million tickets, but the championship game drew a crowd of only 24,153 to the 90,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum.
``Launching a new football league in such a short time period was a daunting and exciting challenge, but we gave it our best shot,'' said NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who had hoped to proved his network with football after it lost its NFL rights contract after the 1997 season.
The XFL, though, didn't seem to be able to decide whether it wanted to be more about sport or spectacle.
Early games had lascivious cheerleader shots, anti-NFL bluster from WWF types, sophomoric double entendres and screaming announcers - including Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former WWF wrestler - who sounded more like shills than analysts. By the end, most of that nonsense was gone.
The XFL even sped up games after a double-overtime contest in Week 2 delayed ``Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV).'' Other rules changes came as late as the playoffs, and tinkering with the production side never ceased.
Although the quality of the football might have improved during the season, it was telling that the league's MVP, Tommy Maddox, threw more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns during a brief NFL career.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would have no comment - a position the NFL has maintained throughout the XFL's existence.
Yahoo Sports (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010510/sp/fbx_xfl_folds_4.html)
Arena football can breathe easier now. :D