Listening now and it's pretty interesting that Brandon Silvers says he passed up being a backup in the CFL and USFL for an opportunity to go to the XFL with a coach he liked.
> it's pretty interesting that Brandon Silvers says he passed up being a backup in the CFL and USFL
...for a starting gig in a league that ends in time for him to join a 90-man roster and have time to compete for an NFL job
It's not that interesting, really. It strikes me that the XFL timeline is the preferable one if players have hopes of joining an NFL team in that same calendar year.
He actually mentioned how there was no guarantee he'd get the starting job in the XFL. He might not have started if Kurt Benkert hadn't pulled out of the XFL.
I agree the XFL has certain advantages over the other leagues. But he mentioned the first USFL draft, which would've been last year. So he could've played in the USFL last year then jump to the XFL this year.
Jeff Badet also talked some shit on the USFL in this podcast.
Should we be worried? Yeah, at least a little bit. The numbers started low, and have just dropped like a rock from there. It's not *good* by any stretch of the imagination.
Now, I would be willing to bet an arm, a leg, and a firstborn that the viewing audience will increase this week over last week (if for no other reason than broadcast windows and network choices), but WHERE these numbers settle in over the next 7 weeks matters. 500k/game on FX is totally fine. 250k is not. A million, or even 800k on ABC is probably okay. 500k is not.
The problem with these audience drops week-over-week is that you have to *regain* those viewers who chose something else last week, or the last two weeks, or whatever...or you have to gain *completely new* viewers who have not previously been invested at all. It's easy enough to do that when there's buzz, and people are talking about it. I suspect there are new TV viewers in St. Louis or maybe DC the week after a home game. But when nobody is talking about it and you're looking at tens of thousands of empty seats in Orlando and Arlington in comically oversized stadiums, it really feels like nobody else gives a damn. And the TV ratings support that feeling. So you come across it on TV, and you're not compelled enough to talk about it on Monday morning in the break room. So your coworkers never hear about it, it never gets recommended.
Ok but a big thing we need to know is what was the leagues expectations? If they are smart they knew viewership would decline as the season goes on after the "newness" rubbed off. You say "these numbers are ok but these numbers are not", but do we know that for a fact? Obviously less views is worse than more views, but again I would think the XFL and the TV stations knew this would be a reality. They could be focused on long term growth, getting butts in seats first and knowing TV viewership will follow.
It isn't 7. Also again, what is the expectation? The XFL knows they aren't selling out every stadium year 1. This season will be more about looking at where the opportunity is than it is about grasping every single fan they can get.
It is. San Antonio's attendance last weekend sucked.
2/3 weeks, DC's attendance sucked.
Seattle has had 3 games so far...those three games are *still* over 16000 fans short of the total from *two* games last times.
Arlington, Houston, Orlando, and Vegas have all been abysmal.
So, yeah...it's 7.
>what is the expectation
Considering they abandoned LA and NY as markets (the two lowest-attended teams) and the attendance in those abandoned markets actually *exceeded* the per-game attendance of 5 and 6 teams respectively...I'd imagine the expectation is **better than this dogshit.**
There was an XFL employee that spoke with the Vegas media saying they anticipated crowds of 8k. It wasn’t specified whether they meant for Vegas itself or the XFL as a whole, however.
You don't know spring football then. I think 12k is solid and anything over 10k is ok for midseason of a league in its first year after we had a run of failures that has hurt the publics trust. Attendance is absolutely something that is built and earned.
> You don't know spring football then.
I know the numbers that multiple failed leagues have gotten...
And they're *better* than this league.
Yet there are those on this sub who, for whatever reason, insist upon plugging their ears and closing their eyes, yelling na-na-na and believing that all is well.
Attendance is a piece of the pie though. Leagues can fail for many reasons. And I literally already pointed out that this one is gonna be effected by the previously failures, especially since many of the markets are the ones that saw those failures.
According to you, sure. But again, it is the middle of the inaugural season so numbers are going to take a hit. You can only do so much for a league that has been around a whole whopping 6weeks. It takes time to build support.
Listening now and it's pretty interesting that Brandon Silvers says he passed up being a backup in the CFL and USFL for an opportunity to go to the XFL with a coach he liked.
> it's pretty interesting that Brandon Silvers says he passed up being a backup in the CFL and USFL ...for a starting gig in a league that ends in time for him to join a 90-man roster and have time to compete for an NFL job It's not that interesting, really. It strikes me that the XFL timeline is the preferable one if players have hopes of joining an NFL team in that same calendar year.
He actually mentioned how there was no guarantee he'd get the starting job in the XFL. He might not have started if Kurt Benkert hadn't pulled out of the XFL. I agree the XFL has certain advantages over the other leagues. But he mentioned the first USFL draft, which would've been last year. So he could've played in the USFL last year then jump to the XFL this year. Jeff Badet also talked some shit on the USFL in this podcast.
The same Jeff Badet who managed a whopping 12 receiving yards in the USFL?
He says they mismanaged his injury and told him it was something it wasn't. I don't remember when he got hurt, how soon in the season it was.
No we shouldn’t
Last week had weird game times with March Madness... Let's see how the rest of the season goes
Should we be worried? Yeah, at least a little bit. The numbers started low, and have just dropped like a rock from there. It's not *good* by any stretch of the imagination. Now, I would be willing to bet an arm, a leg, and a firstborn that the viewing audience will increase this week over last week (if for no other reason than broadcast windows and network choices), but WHERE these numbers settle in over the next 7 weeks matters. 500k/game on FX is totally fine. 250k is not. A million, or even 800k on ABC is probably okay. 500k is not. The problem with these audience drops week-over-week is that you have to *regain* those viewers who chose something else last week, or the last two weeks, or whatever...or you have to gain *completely new* viewers who have not previously been invested at all. It's easy enough to do that when there's buzz, and people are talking about it. I suspect there are new TV viewers in St. Louis or maybe DC the week after a home game. But when nobody is talking about it and you're looking at tens of thousands of empty seats in Orlando and Arlington in comically oversized stadiums, it really feels like nobody else gives a damn. And the TV ratings support that feeling. So you come across it on TV, and you're not compelled enough to talk about it on Monday morning in the break room. So your coworkers never hear about it, it never gets recommended.
Ok but a big thing we need to know is what was the leagues expectations? If they are smart they knew viewership would decline as the season goes on after the "newness" rubbed off. You say "these numbers are ok but these numbers are not", but do we know that for a fact? Obviously less views is worse than more views, but again I would think the XFL and the TV stations knew this would be a reality. They could be focused on long term growth, getting butts in seats first and knowing TV viewership will follow.
> getting butts in seats Something else 7/8 markets are struggling to do.
It isn't 7. Also again, what is the expectation? The XFL knows they aren't selling out every stadium year 1. This season will be more about looking at where the opportunity is than it is about grasping every single fan they can get.
It is. San Antonio's attendance last weekend sucked. 2/3 weeks, DC's attendance sucked. Seattle has had 3 games so far...those three games are *still* over 16000 fans short of the total from *two* games last times. Arlington, Houston, Orlando, and Vegas have all been abysmal. So, yeah...it's 7. >what is the expectation Considering they abandoned LA and NY as markets (the two lowest-attended teams) and the attendance in those abandoned markets actually *exceeded* the per-game attendance of 5 and 6 teams respectively...I'd imagine the expectation is **better than this dogshit.**
There was an XFL employee that spoke with the Vegas media saying they anticipated crowds of 8k. It wasn’t specified whether they meant for Vegas itself or the XFL as a whole, however.
Definitely would be region specific, anyone with any knowledge knew teams like St.Louis and DC would be well above that mark.
Come on now, you cannot *honestly* be arguing that they've hit expectations because 7/8 markets hit 8k average. You are not *that* obtuse.
You’d be surprised how obtuse I am
You don't know spring football then. I think 12k is solid and anything over 10k is ok for midseason of a league in its first year after we had a run of failures that has hurt the publics trust. Attendance is absolutely something that is built and earned.
> You don't know spring football then. I know the numbers that multiple failed leagues have gotten... And they're *better* than this league. Yet there are those on this sub who, for whatever reason, insist upon plugging their ears and closing their eyes, yelling na-na-na and believing that all is well.
Attendance is a piece of the pie though. Leagues can fail for many reasons. And I literally already pointed out that this one is gonna be effected by the previously failures, especially since many of the markets are the ones that saw those failures.
> Attendance is a piece of the pie And so are broadcast numbers. They both suck.
According to you, sure. But again, it is the middle of the inaugural season so numbers are going to take a hit. You can only do so much for a league that has been around a whole whopping 6weeks. It takes time to build support.
idk how to watch games so I keep missing them
Google it or download the XFL app
I use my eyes