XFL Week 3 It is Time to Perform or Die

The XFL is already moving into week 3 of their season.  Week one was a huge hit.  Week two not so much.  It is hardly a secret that I would really like to see a Winter/Spring football league make it.  It would also be nice to have a league that will give fringe players or players that have just not been able to get a chance in the NFL to find a place to play.  Possibly getting noticed and moving up to the big league.  The first few weeks of the AAF we thought we might have that.  But they blew it big time.  We knew when the AAF failed that there would be another chance with the second coming of the XFL.  We also know that there are a few things that have to happen for the XFL to survive.

They have to play decent football

People know that it is not going to be the best.  It also can’t be the worst.  In week one the games were sort of alright.  We got exactly what we were expecting.  Teams that have not played together.  Have had limited practice time and were still working to understand some of the new rules of the game.  It was understandable that we were not going to be getting great games in the first week.  Going into week two the teams really needed to show some improvement.  That really did not happen.  Two of the teams are already in a free fall.  The Tampa Bay Vipers and LA Wildcats are both 0 – 2 and have each given up four more touchdowns then they have scored.

Two  teams are standing out.  The Houston Roughnecks and the DC Defenders are both looking to be ahead of the pack.  So far both teams have had a pretty easy go of things.  At least it has looked that way.  This is not a good thing for a league that is starting out.  It might be nice for their fans.  It is not a good thing for the league.  The Defenders and the Roughnecks don’t play till week 7.  It is possible that they are both 6 – 0 at that point.  It could make for a good game and be a preview of the championship game that would happen a few weeks later.  If only two teams are playing decent football at this point it will be a problem

The Games have to be competitive

The games need to at least be close.  Even if there are going to be clear top and bottom teams if the games can at least be close this will keep people watching.  The ratings too a beating dropping by almost a third from week one to week two.  This was not unexpected.  Even with the drop of a third it was not as bad as the AAF where they had a drop in ratings of 50 percent.  The week two ratings are probably closer to what the ratings for the season are going to be.  That is if they can play competitive games.  So far six of the eight games played have been what I would consider to be blow out games.  That leaves only two games that were competitive.  This is not going to keep the fans watching the games.

The games have to be close or there is no way that the viewers are going to stick around.  Even with the fast pace the games have carried so far.  If the games are not close then people are going to bail on them. This also goes back to playing decent football.

Financial Backing Has to Give a Change

Vince McMahon is going to lose some money the first year of this league.  Probably even in the second year of this league.  He is going to have to decide how much he can lose before making a profit.  This was also a huge miss by the AAF.  They jumped the gun took a gamble on an investor and lost.   For this to work Vince McMahon is going to have to avoid that mistake.   I am pretty sure he will just throwing this in as a cautionary point.

XFL Week 3 is the Test

This is going to be the real test.  This is where the XFL is either going to keep those core fans coming back to watch or they are going to lose them.  This is the type of viewing where once you lose them it will be nearly impossible to get those viewers back.  For this to happen the teams need to make some major improvements.  Now that they have two games in.  The teams are at a point where they know what they really need to work on.  They should be playing more as a team now rather than as a group of players.  I really hope they can do this.  I want them so succeed.  The XFL Week 3 should give us a hint if they can make it happen.

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