Tombstone
Founded: February 3, 20001WWF unveils latest creation: pro football? AP via The Daily Union, Feb. 4, 2000
Disbanded: May 10, 20012X-Treme Flop: XFL Football folds after first full season, AP via The Madison Courier, May 11, 2001
First Game: February 3, 2001
Last Game: April 21, 2001
Seasons: 1
States: 8
(Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee)
Leadership
Attendance
Trophy Case
XFL (2001) Football Apparel
Go retro in XFL (2001) gear
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Free Customization Included
Each jersey individually handmade
Any name and number
Sewn tackle twill crest, numbers & letters
100% polyester
Heavyweight fabric made to game standards
Show your knowledge of football history and love of the XFL in great apparel from Royal Retros.
Background
The original XFL was a spring football league that played one season in 2001. An infamous $100 million joint venture between Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Dick Ebersol’s NBC Sports, it was established as a made-for-TV product designed to appeal to the WWE’s highly sought after demographic of young males. In addition to NBC broadcasts, the XFL also had ancillary deals with UPN for a weekly prime time broadcast and the TNN cable network for a Sunday matinee game.
The XFL debuted on February 3, 2001 and the first week’s TV rating was a strong 10.3 on NBC. But the curiosity seekers fled the league quickly and ratings plunged 71% over the next three weeks. The XFL Football championship – named the Million Dollar Game because of cash incentives for the winners – earned a 2.5 on April 21, 2001. XFL Football telecasts were also among UPN’s lowest rated prime time offerings in the spring of 2001.
Draft Busts and “He Hate Me”
The caliber of football was second-tier by design, largely indistinguishable from the World League of American Football, the NFL’s own failed spring-time football operation from the early 1990’s. The eight XFL rosters were made up largely of NFL training camp casualties, Canadian Football League refugees, and undrafted free agents. To the extent that the XFL Football had any name players, they tended to be NFL 1st round draft busts, such as Tommy Maddox, Jim Druckenmiller, John Avery and the 1994 Heisman Trophy winning running back Rashan Salaam.
One exception was Rod Smart. Smart was an undrafted running back from Western Kentucky University who earned the starting job with the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws. The Outlaws happened to be one of the featured teams in NBC’s inaugural broadcast on February 3, 2001. Taking advantage of the XFL’s permissive atmosphere, Smart had the slogan “He Hate Me” stitched on the name plate of his jersey instead of his last name. Smart also turned out to be pretty good. He finished 2nd in the XFL in rushing and became one of the few players to leverage the XFL Football into a meaningful NFL career, where he played from 2001 to 2005. He played six games with the Philadelphia Eagles in fall 2001, before suiting up in Carolina for four seasons.
Ask people today what they remember about the XFL, and chances are someone will blurt out “He Hate Me.”
Demise & Revival(s)
League attendance was close to the XFL’s original projections at 23,410 announced per game. But it was TV ratings where the league really took a beating and it was, after all, a made-for-TV league. NBC pulled out of its two-year commitment after just one season. McMahon’s other TV partners wanted to extract concessions to keep the league on the air for a second season. The XFL officially folded on May 10, 2011.
On January 25, 2018 Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment announced that the XFL Football would return after a nineteen-year hibernation in the winter of 2020.
The new XFL launched in February 2020 to decent reviews. But play was suspended after 5 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the league filed for bankruptcy and suspended operations shortly thereafter.
In August 2020, the league was purchased by a consortium led by actor and WWE icon Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It returned to the field in spring 2023. After one season, it merged with the new United States Football League (USFL) to form the (new) United Football League(UFL). Though it took the name of the UFL that operated from 2009-2012, the two circuits are not related.
Editor's Pick
This Was The XFL
ESPN Films 30 for 30 (DVD)
Directed by Charlie Ebersol
Charlie Ebersol, son of XFL co-founder Dick Ebersol (NBC Sports), directs this ESPN 30 for 30 documentary re-telling of the star-crossed 2001 season of Vince McMahon’s pro football/pro wrestling mash-up, the XFL. Weirdly, the process of making this film inspired Charlie Ebersol to try his own hand at running a spring football league. Ebersol’s equally messy Alliance of American Football would ultimately become a saga worthy of its own 30 for 30 treatment someday.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVTi1g1MTOg
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XFL Franchise List
| FRANCHISE | YEARS ACTIVE | XFL CHAMPIONS |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Thunderbolts | 2001 | Never |
| Chicago Enforcers | 2001 | Never |
| Las Vegas Outlaws | 2001 | Never |
| Los Angeles Xtreme | 2001 | 2001 |
| Memphis Maniax | 2001 | Never |
| New York/New Jersey Hitmen | 2001 | Never |
| Orlando Rage | 2001 | Never |
| San Francisco Demons | 2001 | Never |
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