As we draw near to the end of July we still do not have any XFL team names. We have been told we would get them by May, then when May came and went we were told June.
We all know June provided no names but then we were told they would announce them in July. We had a little bit of hope for names as we got wind that they released five potential names for the Seattle franchise but it didn’t yield any other teams. Some say it’s not too big a deal yet others are extremely upset and say this (XFL) could fail as quickly as it started.
Now, I don’t think the lack of team names are dooming the franchise but I believe if they do not release the names then some fans might be giving up on the XFL.
Commissioner Oliver Luck has already set three dates for the announcement but none of those dates produced any names or logos or even team colors. Of course like I said previously we have those five potential names for the Seattle team but which one is yet to be announced.
If you go on Twitter you will see the frustration over this issue as many fans have aired out their concerns.
One user by the name @didxflfold (which he seems more like a troll and causing confusion) tweeted:
While @xflTo said:
These are of course fans and I’m sure none of them actually have any insider knowledge so take it with a grain of salt. I personally am not worried about not getting the names and logos yet, but I agree with The Mark, they need to make the XFL team announcement before the NFL starts to keep the interest alive.
Even if only get one team name a week like suggested, that would keep the interest in the XFL going strong till we get the draft in October. We know it’s a lot when you consider the dealings with patents and previously established names and logos but still we should be seeing something very shortly.
As the Commissioner has already stated he and the coaches do know the names yet they are keeping it very hush but it seems like fans are getting antsy with anticipation and are about to pull a “Area 51” so to say on the XFL front office and demand the names be released!
Let’s hope they will give in and stay true to the July mark, even if it’s not early or mid July!
Let us know your thoughts and if your worried for the state of the XFL?
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Scott
July 23, 2019 at 3:13 pm
This shocks me, I think of the money that the XFL could have already made with swag with the team names on it.
Leonard Dv Smith
July 23, 2019 at 3:47 pm
Have reserved season tickets. Transperency is important. No reason for information about all phases of xfl to stall in any area. Some fans can be patient with news etc…I believe that your initial response about the xfl gave an impression that news and updates would be swift. I think that true progressive news ie.. team names,colors,player’s that want to play,naia,d2,d3,stars on radar would be engaging on an on going basis
Kenny
July 23, 2019 at 3:58 pm
I am looking forward to finding out the team names too, but I do not think it is a bad reflection on the league or anything for the delay. When they announce the team names, I’m sure they will want merch to be available that day, that could be a hold up. I think they would be smart to hold a big rally in each city with the accounements to create awareness and buzz.
Johnny Lucas
July 23, 2019 at 7:24 pm
That’s right Kenny. The shirts, hats, hoodies, jerseys, posters and so on must be available for immediate purchase. The XFL website store has to be ready, all the licensing, permits, etc. all require a lot of coordination. It would be a humiliating spectacle to have glitches in the process after the names and logos are announced. Better to take longer to do things right. There won’t be a second chance.
Rick Brosh
July 24, 2019 at 2:28 am
I don’t mind them taking longer to get things right, I mind them not being more transparent as to when it’s going to happen. If they weren’t sure, they should’ve been more up front about it instead of putting themselves in a position where they were constantly changing the date on us. I’m not giving up on the league, but I am annoyed and frustrated by this particular thing.
Johnny Lucas
July 24, 2019 at 11:57 pm
Rick,
How transparent should they be? Admit they’re having unexpected delays and they can’t nail down a specific announcement date? Share their failures to secure licensing deals or trademarks?
Admitting dysfunction is self defeating and would only worsen the frustration of fans. It’s a startup league; the magnitude of work required is something very few fully understand.
I share your frustration, but it’s wise for the league to keep quiet instead of setting more deadlines that may be broken.
Rick Brosh
July 25, 2019 at 10:12 am
Whatever, I’m just mind-weary of the whole matter. Whenever they’re unveiled is whenever they’re unveiled. It’s just that it seems to have snowballed into a bigger matter than it should be. But it’s not going to derail my XFL fandom any. No matter how drawn out this announcement date is, I fully intend to be watching the games come February 8 and beyond.
joe
July 23, 2019 at 8:31 pm
I have reserved season tickets and was looking forward to the new XFL but as
time goes on, I grow less interested. The leaked names for Seattle are lame….
all names should end in the letter S, the XFL is open to females in the
broadcast booth and officiating….never a good idea and the rule changes
seem a little to extreme. I was and I think a lot of fans were really looking
for a new league with old school, smash mouth NFL rules from the 80’s and 90’s and
the XFL isn’t providing that. Oh well, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.
Warner28
July 24, 2019 at 9:14 am
If you expected 80s and 90s NFL you weren’t paying attention and that is a you problem
How is women being involved a bad thing?
Johnny Lucas
July 25, 2019 at 12:01 am
Joe,
If you’re a true pro football fan and love having more of it to last beyond the Super Bowl, you won’t let delays of team names deter you.
Agreed about forcing females into a man’s sport and possible overreach with the rules, but we may get a good product after all. The AAF was entertaining and sustained interest (especially in San Antonio) and there’s no reason to believe it won’t be even better with a two year planning period.
Lou
July 24, 2019 at 7:48 am
It’s an absolute embarrassment on the XFLs part and they should be ashamed. I was actually excited for the XFL but since they haven’t released the team names and logos by now, I’ve lost interest and they’ve lost a potential fan.
Johnny Lucas
July 25, 2019 at 12:10 am
Lou,
Why should the XFL be ashamed? It’s a brand new outdoor football league. There’s not enough space in any post or column to adequately explain all the components of building a professional sports league from scratch. Expecting this to go smoothly at all major facets is not realistic. There will be glitches, mistakes and embarrassing situations, but that’s part of the learning curve.
Let’s give them some slack. After all, this is shaping up to be at least a 3-year $500 million venture to provide the public with entertainment and a football fix in the NFL post season. It’s well worth the wait for some names we won’t even think about once the season is underway.
If a delay for team names is enough to extinguish your interest, you weren’t a real fan in the first place to lose interest so easily.
Lou
July 29, 2019 at 8:56 am
Johnny,
I know it’s a brand new league. But Luck has stated that the names would be released in May, June and then July. To me, that shows instability and unprofessionalism. Very hacky. Team names, logos and color schemes are one of the paramount reasons that people become fans of a team in the first place. For any team of any sport. The XFL is losing credibility because of how poorly they handled this. After the previous XFLs first failure, they should be ON THE BALL with EVERYTHING in a timely fashion if they want to be taken seriously again. And after these false promises, I believe that the XFL will fail again.
Johnny Lucas
July 25, 2019 at 12:13 am
Lou,
Why should they be ashamed? There’s not enough room in any post or column to describe what goes into creating a professional sports league from scratch. Delays in name announcements is the least of our concerns.
McMahon is spending at least $500 million over three years to provide us with pro football to fill the bleak void after the Super Bowl. If you lose interest this easily over something minor, your status as a potential fan is questionable.
Beating the bleep out of Tom Kennedy!
July 24, 2019 at 8:49 am
You know, I’d find it quite funny if those “leaked names” from that Youtuber that this site passed off as facts, actually came true! Here are the names for a refresher.
Dallas Eagles
Houston Titans
Los Angeles Giants
New York Red Sox
St. Louis Cubs
Seattle Thunder
Tampa Bay Yankees
Washington Penguins
“I have reserved season tickets and was looking forward to the new XFL but as
time goes on, I grow less interested. The leaked names for Seattle are lame….
all names should end in the letter S, the XFL is open to females in the
broadcast booth and officiating….never a good idea and the rule changes
seem a little to extreme. I was and I think a lot of fans were really looking
for a new league with old school, smash mouth NFL rules from the 80’s and 90’s and
the XFL isn’t providing that. Oh well, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath unless Vince McMahon Jr. dies. And even then…
@Kenny, Johnny Lucas, Leonard Dv Smith
Anymore pathetic excuses you want to come up with?
Shawn Mohr
July 24, 2019 at 9:37 am
@Beating the bleep out of Tom Kennedy! we are not passing those team names off as fact, we are simply “reporting” on them. Nobody has said 100% that one of those will be the team name, we are simply putting them out there as potential names. Regardless if they are false or not we will make the fans aware that there is talk going on! And when we use the word “Potential” that does not mean fact! Just wanted to clear that up as some might be confused about this.
Vandal Hearts 3:16
July 24, 2019 at 4:13 pm
Would you want some cheese with that wine?
Roger Goodell
July 24, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Lol an exact portion of this reply was left above by “joe”. Seems like its the same person just spamming the comment section with negative comments. Its probably a paid NFL shill! Trying to so discord!
Beating the bleep out of Tom Kennedy!
July 25, 2019 at 7:13 pm
“Lol an exact portion of this reply was left above by “joe”. Seems like its the same person just spamming the comment section with negative comments. Its probably a paid NFL shill! Trying to so discord!”
Seems like you are someone who needs to be smacked upside the head if you think L.A. and Tampa will support these teams when they don’t even support the Chargers and Buccaneers!
Chris
July 24, 2019 at 9:44 am
Wait till training camp, then you can get responses from players. It will be fun to see NFL guys talking about their XFL buddies new team name.
Thomas Houlahan
July 24, 2019 at 12:31 pm
This whole project is unbelievably cynical. Vince McMahon seems to believe that all he needs to do is announce that something is a Vince McMahon promotion and it will automatically become a license to print money. First, he hasn’t learned his lesson from the first XFL, which ran into trouble because there were too many details he hadn’t thought about (like making sure that there is gas in the generators so that the T.V. vans can broadcast, just to name one). Worse, he’s already made complete suckers of the handful of us who were real XFL fans the first time around. Our teams (I was a S.F. Demons fan)? No thought to bringing them back. I’m not watching one minute of this.
Johnny Lucas
July 25, 2019 at 12:24 am
Thomas,
What gave you the idea McMahon thinks anything is going to be automatic? Why did he wait two years instead of going right away like the AAF? You’re implying he didn’t learn from the first time around? He’s sold off almost $200 million in WWE stock to pay for this, projecting $500 million for three years. He wouldn’t be worth $2.2 billion for being a stupid businessman.
The generator incident has never been proven to be the fault of the XFL or McMahon. The NFL wanted an LA team and didn’t like the XFL getting there first. There’s no proof of NFL agent sabotage, but to reflexively blame experienced production crews who “triple check” such things, it’s unfair to make any definitive judgement.
What difference does it make if they bring back the old names? Why bring back reminders of failure? After the novelty of the names runs the course, nobody will give the names a second thought.
The work involved in creating a brand new pro football league is tremendous, so this delay should not be surprising. As The Mark reported, more league office personnel have just been hired and they’re a talented, experienced bunch. That’s hardly making suckers out of anyone.
If you’re not watching one minute of this, why are you visiting an XFL news site and posting comments? Why would a delay of announcing team names be enough to send you away?
Hang in there; you’ll be glad you did.
Beating the bleep out of Tom Kennedy!
July 25, 2019 at 7:16 pm
You are a complete imbecile if you think Vince McMahon Jr. is going to have a successful football league when he can’t even turn around the WWE!
RMB
July 27, 2019 at 10:55 am
I agree with Johnny. If anyone is so invested in this league that they’re visiting web sites looking for news then some delay in team names and logos shouldn’t truly matter. And complaining about losing merchandise sales? Really? Is there going to be a significant amount of business lost because someone couldn’t purchase an item in June that they could in August or September? Or February?
They need to get this right. We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. It could very well be that they hit a snag with naming the Seattle team. Or perhaps dealing with Vince is causing issues. Judging from the way the WWE has tumbled lately I don’t think it’s unfair to question McMahon’s judgment or reputation as a control freak. Could be any number of things.
I also may have missed something, but I don’t know where Luck “promised” any team names and logos by a certain date. Sounds to me like there was a basic timeline in place and then a bunch of dubious “inside information” that was taken as gospel. They know better than anyone when the proper time is to release such information. Their first obligation is to themselves to get the business up and running properly. Then it’s to the consumers.
RME
July 28, 2019 at 11:06 am
The problem for this league is two-fold.
1. after the AAF debacle and the fact the first XFL only lasted one season, the average football consumer wants to see some sign that THIS version of spring football will be different. Luck suggesting that names and logos will come out in April, then May, and then June only to push it off and say they WILL come out July and then – perhaps – not deliver on that, is a huge red flag to potential fans who are considering whether to plunk down money for tickets. They really REALLY want to, but just can’t pull the tirgger until they have some sign that these folks will actually be there for kickoff and the season to come.
2. we can all read the assorted wrestling sites talking about how problematic things have become for the WWE as ratings drop because (apparently) Vince McMahon has turned his attention to the XFL. That makes fans believe there’s a problem with the XFL. They’ve seen the stories of how much stock he’s sold in the WWE to fund the XFL and it looks all the world like he’s struggling to get this league off the ground. I don’t know that that’s the case, but it’s what people think. It’s not a good way to entice fans to buy tickets.
The league has a lot of great things going for it. I trust Luck to get this right. I know team names and logos take a ton of legal work to get right and it’s very important they pick the right ones for the right cities from a marketing standpoint – particularly if these are names that will be around years from now. So I’m fine waiting. I just think Luck and the league should have held off on making any suggestion about when the names would come out. Perhaps explaining what I just did and saying “they’ll be out before the season begins” would have been the best way of doing it.
JJA662
August 12, 2019 at 1:04 pm
The XFL is killing the interest of the fan base with this. The information isn’t being released on a consistent basis. i was once extremely excited to see the XFL come back. I was telling everyone i knew rules and differences and trying to bring as much attention to it as possible. But now im annoyed when they release a bit of information. How many times can we be expected to read about the upcoming draft and all the people who are good enough to make 3rd string NFL rosters and all the guys who can make the practice squad. Is time to quit pretending to be legit and actually be legitimate. Give the fans what they want before we jump off before you get it started.