In a recent article by Ben Fischer in the Sports Business Journal, the NFL’s future and its potential interaction with other leagues, including the XFL, were topics discussed. Gerry Cardinale, a big name linked with both the NFL and the XFL, shared his vision on how football leagues like the NFL can grow and evolve.
The Visionary Perspective
Gerry Cardinale, who has worked closely with the NFL and is a part-owner of the XFL, sees a big future for football leagues. He believes that for leagues to grow big, they need to think beyond just football:
“The Shield will continue to seek new revenue and fans through the usual means, but some experts say the best path to transformative, long-term growth is to stop thinking of itself as just a sports league. RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale, a close partner with the NFL on several projects, believes the league could become a global player across multiple industries if it expands its perspective.
“I could envision a scenario in which the NFL transitions itself from being thought of, both internally and externally, as a league to being thought of more as Disney with a robust investing and strategic M&A orientation,” Cardinale said. “If they do that, they’ll be able to move the needle by leveraging their substantial intellectual property platform and footprint to expand into other rights and company building opportunities. More and more, anything the NFL touches and enables, it should own a piece of.”
NFL-XFL Synergy: A Future Prospect
Ben Fischer points out that the troubles facing college football could actually open up new opportunities for the NFL to work with other leagues, including the XFL. Fischer suggests that we might see the NFL and XFL coming together in different ways:
“The college crisis could also lay the groundwork for the NFL to pursue its own developmental league, either through its own creation, buying part of the XFL, USFL or Canadian leagues, or even building a business abroad around its nascent international player development program.”
This means that the XFL could play a big part in the NFL’s growth, opening up exciting opportunities for football fans everywhere.
The article by Ben Fischer gives us a peek into what the future of football might look like. With someone like Cardinale involved, there’s a lot of hope that the XFL could have a big role to play in a changing football landscape, bringing fresh and exciting developments for fans to look forward to.
