With today's announcement that Vince McMahon is re-launching the XFL in '20, the WWE Chair & CEO talked to SBJ about his new venture and why now was the right time to bring back the pro football league.
SBJ: Where do you see weakness in the NFL right now?
McMahon: You’re not going to hear me talk about the NFL. We’re not in competition with the NFL. I just want to be able to create a fan-friendly, family-friendly type of football that moves faster. We’re not going to knock the NFL in terms of what they do.
SBJ: How do you envision your media deal shaking out?
McMahon: Any way you want to watch it, that’s how we’ll deliver it. It’s not just going to be putting a TV network feed on Amazon or whatever. That’s not what we’re talking about. It’ll be a different look. You can do so many different things with different feeds. There’s an older audience that would just like to have their football. They don’t need a second device to watch what’s going on during the game. There are other people who want more access.
SBJ: What are the benefits to being a single entity?
McMahon: It’s simpler. You have more control. You can get things done faster. You can look in the mirror when you make a mistake and you know who made the mistake. It gives you far more flexibility. There’s a huge talent pool, which means we can be far more selective because the quality of the human being is as important as the quality of the player. We’re not going to bring anybody in who has any arrest records. I’m sorry, guys. They don’t make the cut. We have the ability to do things like that.
SBJ: Why now?
McMahon: It’s a gut call sometimes. At the same time, you have all of this available to you that you didn’t have before. Now was the time for lots of reasons.
SBJ: Will you ask President Trump to help you promote the XFL?
McMahon: Let me reiterate: this has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with social issues. There won’t be any of that in what we do in our presentation. It’s all non-partisan.
