The press conference opens with a video package that confirms the return of the XFL.
Vince McMahon opens the conference and welcomes us. He says the league will launch in 2020 and will give the game of football back to fans. Vince said he knows people have questions for him but he has a lot of questions also. They plan to listen to the fans, players, coaches, medical professionals, the media and others but most important - the fans. Vince says they have wondered what they would do if they can re-imagine the game of pro football.
Vince says the XFL will be for the fans with all the things fans like to see and less of what they don’t. He mentioned shorter, faster paced games that are more family friendly. It will still be pro football but re-imagined - 8 teams, 40 man rosters, a 10 game regular season with playoffs and a championship game. Vince said the quality of the human being will be just as important as the quality of the player.
Vince once again encouraged fans to send their ideas because they are listening.
When asked why now, Vince talked about there being an offseason in pro football and says there’s no better time than now and he’s always wanted to bring it back. He also talked about learning lessons from the old XFL and says they have 2 years to get it right before launching. He commented again later about always wanting to bring the XFL back.
They are also re-imagining how to distribute the game and said the games will be presented in a number of ways. They have not had initial talks with networks but he said there is interest.
Vince also said the XFL won’t affect his daily WWE duties and his job title will remain the same. Vince said there will be no kind of crossover, in terms of talent or anything else, between the XFL and WWE. Regarding his XFL role, Vince said this may be the last we see of him as the upfront guy. They plan to hire experienced executives to be out in front.
When asked why he’s not doing this through WWE again, he commented on how $100 million is a big investment for WWE right off the top.
They are looking to start the season in late January or early February and play through. There will be no franchise model for team ownership, it will be individuals owning the teams. They are nowhere near being ready to announce cities or teams.”
Vince also said they are looking to make the game as safe as possible when asked about concussions. They will bring in experts to help with various fields. and they will listen to medical experts to make this as safe as possible.
Vince chuckled a bit when asked if President Trump will approve of the league and said he did not know if Trump will. Vince made it clear that there will be no focus on political or social issues as they are there to play really good football because that’s what fans want when they tune in.
Vince mentioned wanting to cut games from 3 to 2 hours and mentioned possibly having no halftime. They have talked about doing this for years and did consider using a different name but they kept going back to the equity of the XFL name and they think it’s a cool name.
Vince mentioned how players who have had a DUI won’t be allowed to play in the league. There will be no crossover when it comes to announcers either. He reiterated how he will be behind-the-scenes and not out in front with the new XFL. He also commented on how this will be the XFL re-imagined, not just pro football re-imagined. Vince talked again about how they will be listening to fans and thanked everyone to end the press conference.
