Did The XFL Ever Have A Chance?
The Lead
Audible
3.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2020
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
The XFL officially called it quits on Friday, suspending operations and laying off all of its employees, except for a handful of executives. Vince McMahon's quirky league, which included a bunch of unusual rules, surprised a lot of people with its relative success over the past few months and in some ways seemed ready for the long run. The Athletic’s Arif Hasan, who covers the Minnesota Vikings (and formerly the XFL), joins us to talk about why the league folded, how the XFL evolved from its first iteration back in 2001, and what all of this means for the future of alternative football leagues.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On Friday, the country's newest pro football league officially called it quits. |
| 0:10.7 | Terminated as in all employees of the football league XFL, the Vince McMahon owned XFL, |
| 0:20.6 | the league that started with such great promise, great ratings. |
| 0:24.4 | The XFL surprised a lot of people with its relative success, and in some ways seemed |
| 0:28.9 | like a more professional version of the violent, free-for-all league that first appeared |
| 0:33.2 | back in 2001. |
| 0:35.2 | RISKY PLAYS, FEARLESS DAKALS, AND ONE WARSING, NO FAIR CATCHES. |
| 0:42.8 | Today, we're joined by the athletics Arif Hassan to talk about why the new XFL folded, how |
| 0:50.6 | it evolved from its first go-around, and what all of this means for the future of alternative |
| 0:56.0 | football leagues. |
| 0:57.7 | Even knowing that the XFL was most likely done under by something well outside of its |
| 1:04.7 | control, a pandemic, people will see these two leagues, the AF and the XFL, started, couldn't |
| 1:11.1 | finish their season, and then folded as a result. |
| 1:17.1 | From wondering in the athletic, I'm Kavitha Davidson. |
| 1:19.7 | And I'm Anders Keltow, it's Monday, April 13th, and this is The Lead. |
| 1:24.9 | It felt like something great was happening. |
| 1:29.9 | There was just something about the emotion and the moment, another verse from the first. |
| 1:34.9 | The failures of the past don't matter because we've got this now. |
| 1:39.9 | This isn't a story where you interview the athlete in your home. |
| 1:44.3 | It stays with you. |
| 1:51.7 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to The Lead, add free on Amazon Music. |
| 1:56.3 | Download the app today. |
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