Recently the co-owner of the XFL, Dany Garcia appeared on Yahoo Finance’s Market Summit, to discuss what it meant to be part of the league, where does she see the league heading, and what could fans expect from the XFL in 2022.
We have talked at length about how the deal came about, how the three partners came together, made the decision to go out and buy the XFL out of bankruptcy.
We’ve recently heard that the ownership has reached out to several-if not all-of the team venues and cities to gauge interest in the league returning to those markets.
But now we are a little further down the road. They have everything, including the trademarks, the websites, the equipment, and are now setting sites on creating the 2022 league launch.
A big part of that is looking back at the 2020 season, seeing what fit, and what didn’t fit. If it didnt, how can we either make it fit, or do we move on.
We have confirmed that the following statement does in fact describe what is currently happening behind closed doors:
“We’re actually going through a download now with players and our coaches to see what actually did work, and what didn’t work, and if there were things that were a little bit rough.”
Dany Garcia
Our own Mike Mitchell verifies that coaches and players have been speaking to executives, going through all of what Dany referred to:
One of the biggest plans for the league deals with broadcasting rights. The short story of how McMahon was able to get his most recent XFL on ESPN, ABC, and Fox was that he basically gave them the games for free. The league did not make a dime from broadcasting last season.
That’s not an option now.
Dany and the rest of the ownership group, comprised of The Rock and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital, have other ideas when it comes to revenue streams.
“Going forward, having media rights deals where there are no fees, that’s not the option that we’re looking at.”
Dany Garcia
With that comes the numbers, what was the reaction of the fans while watching at home. According to Dany the end number exceeded their expectations, and now there is a lot to grow from.
Dany says that they are in robust conversations with partners and everyone involved knows that what was last year/last ownership, is not what this is about anymore more.
Sponsorships, stadium revenues being shared among the league’s 8 teams, along with ways to have fans interact. Building off of the success that was in 2020, and learn what was not, and use this time to plan out the best way for the league to flourish in 2022.
Garcia doesn’t see the league as strictly a developmental for the NFL. In her words, the XFL and the NFL are cohorts, so to speak. Two separate forms of the same game, whereas the XFL has a few different rules of play.
And as we said before, they are in a download mode now with players and coaches to see what went right, and keeping that, while moving on from did not go so right.
The accessibility to the players and the coaches went over very well with the fans, so look for this to remain.
As they are well aware of the possibility to lose players to the NFL, the group doesn’t see that as a negative:
“Can we still get the quality of play that we need, even if we may have a player for just a few years? Our premise is yes, we absolutely can.”
When you have single ownership, you can actually create a place where the players are excited to play. Where there’s and investment in who they are, where they are given the best opportunity not only for their brand, but their performance, treated like stars, and most importantly, have their stories told
Dany Garcia
We have also heard the talk about building a culture where the XFL is all of us. That no lines separate the owners from the players, nor the coaches. A league that stands with each other, taking care of the whole.
The opportunity offered to its players from the XFL owners is there also for the coaches. The league is a place to learn, and grow into the coach you want to be. The league is for developing at every position. And that starts with the owners.
As Dany says:
“It’s not just the moment, it’s what you do with that moment”
Dany Garcia
Every play counts. For the Love of Football
You can watch the full interview below:
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