XFL Football: What You Need to Know About the Relaunched XFL
What does XFL stand for?
In all honesty, this has never been defined. When McMahon announced the launch of the first XFL back in 1999, the assumption was that XFL stood for "Xtreme Football League" based on the league's ties to the WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation). But McMahon stated that this was not the case. And while the F and L were obvious (football league), there was no true meaning for the "X". McMahon did joke in an interview at the time that, "if the NFL stood for the 'No-Fun-League,' the XFL stands for the 'Xtra-Fun-League.'"
Who's in charge of the XFL?
The league is owned by Vince McMahon through his company Alpha Entertainment, which he personally funded. McMahon is best known for his ownership of WWE, the most successful professional wrestling promotion in North America. The original XFL was owned by both WWE and NBC (which broadcast the games along with UPN and The National Network — now known as Paramount Network) and included tie-ins, and inter-promotional campaigns between the network, the league, and WWE. But the 2020 XFL will have no ties to WWE whatsoever and will operate as a stand-alone football league. Alpha Entertainment is independent of WWE.
For this XFL, McMahon tapped football legend Oliver Luck (Andrew Luck's father) to be the XFL commissioner. Luck has worked as a head coach, athletic director, general manager, and administrator at both the pro and college levels since retiring from his playing career in 1986. McMahon has given most, if not all, of the football operations to Luck. He oversaw the draft in October and played a significant role in hiring the league's head coaches and other team staffers.
In the previous incarnation of the XFL, McMahon was hands-on with everything from the operations, to even themselves. This time around, McMahon will focus on the business side with Luck on board as commissioner.
How does the league schedule its games?
The XFL will play a ten regular season from Feb. 8 to April 12. The league will play doubleheaders on Saturdays and Sundays — except for two Thursday night games in Weeks 9 and 10 — with the games largely airing in the mid-afternoon and early evening. Each team will play their three conference rivals twice in a home-and-home format along with four games against the opposite conference — two home games and two away games.
Once the regular season concludes, the XFL will have a two-week playoff. The top two teams from each conference will meet in conference championship games to be played on April 18 (Eastern) and 19 (Western). The conference champions will play for the 2020 XFL Championship on April 26. In all, there will be 12 weeks of football that will be played straight through with no bye weeks.
How can I watch XFL games?
The league will air its games on cable, satellite, streaming, and network television through ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, FOX, and ABC. This also means that the games will be available on the Fox Sports GO and ESPN+ apps.
In all honesty, this has never been defined. When McMahon announced the launch of the first XFL back in 1999, the assumption was that XFL stood for "Xtreme Football League" based on the league's ties to the WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation). But McMahon stated that this was not the case. And while the F and L were obvious (football league), there was no true meaning for the "X". McMahon did joke in an interview at the time that, "if the NFL stood for the 'No-Fun-League,' the XFL stands for the 'Xtra-Fun-League.'"
Who's in charge of the XFL?
The league is owned by Vince McMahon through his company Alpha Entertainment, which he personally funded. McMahon is best known for his ownership of WWE, the most successful professional wrestling promotion in North America. The original XFL was owned by both WWE and NBC (which broadcast the games along with UPN and The National Network — now known as Paramount Network) and included tie-ins, and inter-promotional campaigns between the network, the league, and WWE. But the 2020 XFL will have no ties to WWE whatsoever and will operate as a stand-alone football league. Alpha Entertainment is independent of WWE.
For this XFL, McMahon tapped football legend Oliver Luck (Andrew Luck's father) to be the XFL commissioner. Luck has worked as a head coach, athletic director, general manager, and administrator at both the pro and college levels since retiring from his playing career in 1986. McMahon has given most, if not all, of the football operations to Luck. He oversaw the draft in October and played a significant role in hiring the league's head coaches and other team staffers.
In the previous incarnation of the XFL, McMahon was hands-on with everything from the operations, to even themselves. This time around, McMahon will focus on the business side with Luck on board as commissioner.
How does the league schedule its games?
The XFL will play a ten regular season from Feb. 8 to April 12. The league will play doubleheaders on Saturdays and Sundays — except for two Thursday night games in Weeks 9 and 10 — with the games largely airing in the mid-afternoon and early evening. Each team will play their three conference rivals twice in a home-and-home format along with four games against the opposite conference — two home games and two away games.
Once the regular season concludes, the XFL will have a two-week playoff. The top two teams from each conference will meet in conference championship games to be played on April 18 (Eastern) and 19 (Western). The conference champions will play for the 2020 XFL Championship on April 26. In all, there will be 12 weeks of football that will be played straight through with no bye weeks.
How can I watch XFL games?
The league will air its games on cable, satellite, streaming, and network television through ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, FOX, and ABC. This also means that the games will be available on the Fox Sports GO and ESPN+ apps.