Luck (c) said the XFL under McMahon does not intend to become a developmental leagueOLIVER LUCK
XFL Commissioner & CEO Oliver Luck lists the "capital contribution and the capital commitment" from league Founder Vince McMahon and the "time to plan, and plan properly," prior to its launch next year as reasons why the spring football league will not suffer the same fate as the AAF. Luck appeared on ESPN's "OTL" yesterday and said the two-plus years between the league's announced relaunch last January and its first games in February '20 has "allowed us to plan -- to plan our workers' comp system, to plan our general liability insurance, stadium leases, practice facilities." Luck said, "All of those things take some time. ... We're going to launch in a much better position, quite honestly." Meanwhile, McMahon earlier this week sold $272M in WWE stock to help solidify XFL funding. One reason for the AAF's suspending operations was the lack of a working relationship between itself and the NFL. Luck said while an XFL-NFL relationship is a possibility, McMahon at first "wants us to focus on building a sustainable stand-alone league." Luck added the XFL would "love to have, as we do, very friendly relationships with not just the league office" of the NFL, but the "various franchises." Luck said it is "not our intent" for the XFL to become a development league, but "certainly we want to have friendly relationships with all the members of the football ecosystem" ("OTL," ESPN, 4/3).
FOOTBALL FAILURE: Talk about the AAF suspending operations was a big discussion point at the first day of the CAA World Congress of Sports yesterday. DAZN Exec Chair John Skipper said the lesson learned from the league’s failure is that football "is really, really popular in the fall.” ESPN and Disney Exec VP/Affiliate Sales & Marketing Justin Connolly added, “There has to be a tighter knitting with the business and the underlying product. I feel like there was a disconnect, clearly, there. But I don’t think where the AAF landed is indicative of other leagues that are emerging” (Eric Fisher, THE DAILY).
