The Rock was a guest on the final ManningCast of the NFL season. Appearing with Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN 2, The Rock and Manning brothers talked football, wrestling, and movies during his segment in the 2nd quarter of the Arizona Cardinals, LA Rams playoff game.
At one point, Peyton Manning asked The Rock about the XFL. It was the usual response about a league for the players, Dany Garcia and RedBird.
“But to be able to, I think, create opportunities for players to play the game that they love, play the game that we love, pay their bills, take care of their families and keep their dream alive, it’s a full-circle moment for me.”
“As an XFL owner, my No. 1 goal and my No. 1 priority will always be the player and to take care of the players and create these opportunities for them,”
He did mention that the XFL would be making announcements in the next two to three weeks, which is the February time frame he said on CNBC a few weeks ago.
Two or three weeks from now, puts it during the lull between the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, right around the time of the Pro Bowl. This is an excellent time to fill the void of football talk because that week is a slow sports news week. The media is making their way to the Super Bowl, and there is not much to talk about until Super Bowl week begins.
XFL fans were hoping for a major announcement like a TV broadcast deal or a specific date for some announcements. But this was more of a brand awareness thing, letting NFL fans know the XFL is back. We did see a jump in traffic to our site when he mentioned the word XFL.
We waited this long for the XFL to come back, what is another two or three weeks. The slow build towards the 2023 season continues.
4th&long
January 17, 2022 at 10:59 pm
A “teaser” to generate buzz and interest before the news is announced. Not unexpected and a good biz move.
What’s not, IMO, is talking how this is all about the players first. Its starting to sound like maybe an official dev league with the NFL or some kind of similar relationship. Or maybe not, but as a FB fan that’s not my priority. At this point its too early to know much.