This will be a spectacular failure... AGAIN! With year-round NFL coverage and the dominance of College Football, no one is really dying to watch more football. In fact, I would say the market has been saturated. With Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday games, there is not a day of the week left without football. I don't know about you, but as a sports fan, I'm glad to be able shift gears after the Super Bowl and get into the NBA season and MLB spring training and opening day. I just don't see the appeal for an April-to-June football league with 3rd string football players. There is a reason no one watches Arena Football, CFL, etc. Also, Vince McMahon is not the man for this undertaking. The world of sports and entertainment has passed by him. His WWE is a shell of its former self -- sanitized beyond recognition from the glory days of the Attitude Era.
Kind of fun to go back through this thread and see some of the old names. There was even a curmudgeony post from BrianKagy.
Houston was mentioned as a possible location. For Spring football, I'm ok with an XFL team coming here. If they try and pull a USFL and move to Fall then they are ignorant to history. The Houston Gamblers did very well in Astrodome for a non NFL product, over 28k a game! Again, for the Oilers that'd be a horrible number but for a Spring league USFL team, that's fantastic, even at current standards. My dad and I loved watching the Houston Gamblers, I remember having a birthday party at a roller rink, instead of skating I was watching the Houston vs LA playoff game that is still talked about as the best USFL game ever, even though we lost. I remember it being very fun to watch but cannot remember specifics, I was 5. That being said, if Houston lands an XFL team, lets be intelligent about it. I'm assuming they are looking at BBVA Compass b/c they mentioned they liked cities with stadiums in the core of the city. More than likely they will need their own practice facility. That's where my idea comes in. Look at what happened with "The Star" in Frisco TX. Cowboys & Frisco ISD worked together to create the Cowboys headquarters/Frisco ISD indoor football stadium. It was a win/win. Worked so well that they even just landed a Major League Lacrosse team. After MLL came to Houston in late June of 2015 for an all star game at BBVA Compass, they said they would never come to TX unless they had an indoor facility, which is ironic b/c Box Lacrosse is suppose to be played indoors (NLL) anyway but that's another topic. I just chalked it up to, Houston will never get an MLL team then. Once "The Star" landed an MLL team, I thought wouldn't it be great if Katy ISD did something like that but knew they have been spending all kinds of $ on outdoor stadiums & the Texans do not need a headquarters since everything is at NRG Park already. With the XFL looming around & putting Houston as a possible location, I found a little hope. If the XFL franchise could work with an ISD around the suburbs of Houston, they could land a similar deal. Once it's completed then we can start on asking MLL for possible expansion or relocation. Making it an indoor facility for an ISD, the XFL teams practice facility & home to a MLL team. If the XFL fails, we still have an MLL team; if that fails too, we still have an indoor facility for the ISD. No public $ should be used for this outside of the ISD that may raise their taxes only (which Frisco ISD did). I'm good with that since it will be their kids/future students using it. The hard part to this is obviously the XFL team with Vince owing the whole league & all the teams isn't the same thing as the Dallas Cowboys & Jerry's $$$ that specifically goes to just his team. Will Vince even entertain the idea? I'm sure he knows each team will need a practice facility but will he put $ into this or just lease a High school field every year? He'd have to be "wowed" into it to use his money to help build this. It's definitely a pipe dream but if I see a chance at something like this, I'll voice it in hopes others hear it or get even better ideas from it. Hopefully Houston can land both XFL & MLL one day, this seems to be the fastest route I can find at moment. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this so flame away...
Key difference here, I think, is the level of talent. The XFL had borderline practice squad guys featured as starters. The USFL had top talent, including a group of guys who went on to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Steve Young...Jim Kelly...Reggie White...Herschel Walker... The XFL isn't going to compete with NFL salaries to be able to lure that caliber of talent into its league.
I agree with that. XFL is taking their time to hopefully have a decent product in a couple years but I don't think it will be the level that USFL had. I'm actually more interested in bringing an MLL team to Houston, which requires a "The Star" type facility. I highly doubt it will happen & MLL has already said they will not move or expand a team here if its open air. Soccer players barely get through summer here wearing normal workout gear, Lacrosse players wear all kinds of pads/helmet. Other option is NLL which would require a decent arena at least. Fertitta Center is probably a no for a fall/winter sport, I think a new Comets team would work perfect there though since it's during summer months. If, and it's a big if, NRG arena is remade one day like how Astrodometomorrow.org shows, it's a possibility for NLL. Again, more pipe dreams but there is a logical, yet kind of complicated way of getting there.