Vince McMahon Announces Return of XFL in 2020
Professional football re-imagined. That is the message that Vince McMahon announced this afternoon when he confirmed that the XFL will return in 2020. The WWE CEO and Chairman made it official at a press conference, streamed live on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
Using the hashtag #XFL2020, McMahon appeared on a set complete with XFL graphics.
"The new XFL will kick off in 2020 and quite frankly, we're going to give the game of football back to fans," McMahon said. "We're going to ask a lot of questions and listen to players, coaches, medical experts, technology executives, members of the media, and anyone else who understands and loves the game of football. Most importantly, we're going to be listening to fans."
McMahon then posed the following to fans about re-inventing the game of football. "Would you eliminate halftime? Would you have fewer commercial breaks? Would the game of football be faster? Would the rules be simpler? The new XFL will be fan-centric, with all of the things you like to see and less of the things you don't."
McMahon said that a two-hour football game is his model, with eight teams, 40-man rosters, a ten game regular season, and a postseason featuring two semifinals and a championship game. One interesting thing he mentioned in the press release was that any player with a criminal record would not be allowed to play in the XFL. McMahon did not name any cities for franchises, admitting that teams are still undecided at this point.