Xfl Football League

NBC remains committed to two full seasons of the start-up XFL football league, despite a ratings free fall that would almost certainly prompt cancellation of any other prime-time program--one that has taken a toll on the network's results for the February rating sweeps. The made-for-TV league, a partnership of NBC and the World Wrestling Federation, got off to a splashy start with its heavily promoted Feb. 3 debut but has since seen its audience plummet 75%, from 15.

It's now the ex-XFL. The experimental football league folded Thursday after one season that lasted 12 weeks and concluded April 21. League founder Vince McMahon, chairman of the World Wrestling Federation, said during a late-afternoon conference call that the decision to fold the league was made earlier in the day, after a deal with the UPN television network fell through. "I came to the realization that we could not continue four hours ago," McMahon said.

NBC has quietly put out feelers to Hollywood's production community in the last few weeks regarding development of low-cost dramatic series that could be scheduled on Saturday night--a programming strategy that raises questions about the network's long-term commitment to its struggling XFL football league. Sources say NBC is interested in trying to produce one-hour series for not much more than $1 million per hour, or about a third less than the average new drama.

The first Super Bowl was played at the Coliseum in 1967. The first XFL championship game, billed as the "Million Dollar Game," will be played there tonight. The similarities end there. The NFL was an established league in 1967. Although that initial Super Bowl didn't sell out, it drew 61,946. XFL officials would be happy if tonight's 5 o'clock game between the Los Angeles Xtreme and the San Francisco Demons draws 20,000.

Wrestling fans have proved themselves to be a fairly loyal bunch, making the World Wrestling Federation's "Smackdown!" the top-rated show on UPN. But that loyalty doesn't necessarily extend to the WWF's maverick chairman, Vince McMahon. WWF fans are not flocking to McMahon's Xtreme Football League.

Emerging from a black stretch limousine in Mobile, Ala., Vince McMahon slips into his trademark character, the power-crazed wrestling promoter. It's not a hard fit. McMahon, chairman of the World Wrestling Federation, is the nation's most powerful wrestling promoter. But now it's show time. As the cameras catch him outside the city's sold-out Civic Center, he flies into a screaming rage at his driver and fires him for delivering him late.

The XFL's first weekend was a ratings success but not an artistic one as television critics across the country bashed the fledgling professional football league and its business and broadcast partner, NBC. Some didn't like the quality of play, some didn't like the camera angles, some didn't like the cheerleaders, some didn't like commentator Jesse Ventura, and many didn't like the crassness of it all.

The XFL will be back next season, only its games will not be televised by NBC, league founder Vince McMahon said Wednesday. "There's nothing official, but as for NBC showing games on Saturday nights, that's not going to happen," McMahon said during an interview about the first year of his football league. A month after McMahon announced the formation of the XFL early last year, NBC came in as a 50-50 partner.

Forget the players--Week 2 of the XFL caused headaches at "Saturday Night Live," which didn't air until a few minutes after midnight across much of the country because the game between the Los Angeles Xtreme and the Chicago Enforcers at the Coliseum went into double overtime. SNL was seen in its regular 11:30 p.m. time slot on the West Coast, but the delay elsewhere chagrined producers at "SNL," who had Jennifer Lopez as both host and musical guest.

The XFL, the new smash-mouth-ear-nose-and-throat football league, debuted to surprisingly strong ratings. Its success is already fueling speculation that the league's formula of violence, gloating and extreme cheerleader anatomy will soon influence all areas of American culture. Here are some of the copycat ideas being considered: The XBA Much as the XFL modified NFL rules to outlaw the "fair catch," the XBA will immediately implement the "no blood, no foul" guideline for its basketball games.

Running back Saladin McCullough was working with young athletes as a trainer in Pasadena, convinced he'd never be given another chance to play in the NFL. "I'd been written off," he said. Wide receiver Jeremaine Copeland, cut by the Tennessee Titans, was working for a janitorial service in his hometown of Harriman, Tenn., when he wasn't playing with Barcelona in NFL Europe.

The XFL will be back next season, only its games will not be televised by NBC, league founder Vince McMahon said Wednesday. "There's nothing official, but as for NBC showing games on Saturday nights, that's not going to happen," McMahon said during an interview about the first year of his football league. A month after McMahon announced the formation of the XFL early last year, NBC came in as a 50-50 partner.

And so, California sports fans, this is as good as it gets, right? It's Los Angeles vs. San Francisco in a game for all the marbles. It's a test of municipal muscle, a revival of the state's most enduring rivalry--north vs. south, Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood, cable cars vs. Sunset Strip, and so much more. Then again, no. For the big game in the L.A. Coliseum late Saturday afternoon will pit the Los Angeles Xtreme against the San Francisco Demons.

The impression at times has been that the XFL is more about cheerleaders in the stands and strippers in hot tubs than it is about football. The XFL encouraged that sort of thinking when the league hit the scene, but it irritates the league's football people, who say that's not what the XFL is all about. And there are plenty of football people in the XFL. Dick Butkus is a top executive, and nobody is more "football" than Butkus, the Chicago Bear hall of fame linebacker.

NBC has quietly put out feelers to Hollywood's production community in the last few weeks regarding development of low-cost dramatic series that could be scheduled on Saturday night--a programming strategy that raises questions about the network's long-term commitment to its struggling XFL football league. Sources say NBC is interested in trying to produce one-hour series for not much more than $1 million per hour, or about a third less than the average new drama.

There is no telling how much longer the XFL will be around, but Gov. Jesse Ventura's days as the lead commentator may be numbered. "He's on thin ice," Vince McMahon said Wednesday during an interview on the state of his new winter professional football league. "We've made mistakes, and I think our biggest one was our selection of announcers," the XFL founder said. "We need football announcers, not WWF announcers."

Professional football is returning to the Coliseum--but don't expect to see Kurt Warner, Terrell Davis or any other big-name stars. It's not the NFL. It's the XFL. And what is the XFL? It's a new professional league, set to open play in February 2001, according to Vince McMahon, owner and chairman of the World Wrestling Federation. The XFL is his baby. And, no, the games' outcomes will not be scripted, he says.

And so, California sports fans, this is as good as it gets, right? It's Los Angeles vs. San Francisco in a game for all the marbles. It's a test of municipal muscle, a revival of the state's most enduring rivalry--north vs. south, Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood, cable cars vs. Sunset Strip, and so much more. Then again, no. For the big game in the L.A. Coliseum late Saturday afternoon will pit the Los Angeles Xtreme against the San Francisco Demons.

Wrestling fans have proved themselves to be a fairly loyal bunch, making the World Wrestling Federation's "Smackdown!" the top-rated show on UPN. But that loyalty doesn't necessarily extend to the WWF's maverick chairman, Vince McMahon. WWF fans are not flocking to McMahon's Xtreme Football League.

NBC remains committed to two full seasons of the start-up XFL football league, despite a ratings free fall that would almost certainly prompt cancellation of any other prime-time program--one that has taken a toll on the network's results for the February rating sweeps. The made-for-TV league, a partnership of NBC and the World Wrestling Federation, got off to a splashy start with its heavily promoted Feb. 3 debut but has since seen its audience plummet 75%, from 15.