On Wednesday, news broke that the XFL and CFL have been talking about a potential future partnership without saying the word merger. Because of this, the XFL said that the 2022 season is on hold for now. Both leagues released statements on their social media accounts.
An update on the 2022 Season: pic.twitter.com/AnTvrKZd24 — XFL (@XFL2022) March 10, 2021
A statement from @RandyAmbrosie regarding alignment opportunities with @XFL2022: pic.twitter.com/bzdevpkGsk — CFL (@CFL) March 10, 2021
The XFL played five weeks into their 2020 season before canceling due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the CFL never had a 2020 season. While other sports like the NHL, NFL have shown that you can play a season in the middle of COVID, the CFL just sat at home. They were even trying to get the Canadian government to loan them $30 million for a short season and didn’t get it.
By not having a 2020 season, the league is desperate. The CFL needed to change its business model a long time ago, and they have refused to do so. The league has nearly folded several times. Rather than plan for the future by getting more sponsors, better television contracts, they are stuck where they’re at, and nothing will change because they refuse to change.
Now their only hope of getting any income to the league is by a merger. In most cases, mergers are good if they make sense. For example, in 2008, The United Indoor Football and the Intense Football League merged to become the Indoor Football League. In recent years, the league has been able to get former AFL teams to the IFL and are now the last major indoor leagues around.
This isn’t the first time the CFL has partnered with other leagues. In 2018, the CFL partnered with the Professional American Football League of Mexico (LFA) for player development. In 2019, they partnered with more leagues like Germany’s GFL, Austria’s AFL, France’s FFFA, Italy’s IFL, and Nordic countries NL, VL, SS, and NAFL.
The big difference between then and now is no CFL teams have played any other teams from the other leagues. The ongoing discussions could result in having both teams from both leagues play against each other under one name. The CFL currently has nine teams, while the XFL has eight teams that would make a seventeen-team league.
Both of these leagues will have a lot to discuss if they attempt to accomplish this partnership goal. The other obstacles these leagues will have to discuss before moving forward are the start of the season, salaries, and the rules. Will they play the three-down game from Canada or the four-down game for America? Will they use either CFL rules or XFL rules? Will they mix the two to make a unique game? We’ll find out as time goes on.
If the CFL had changed its business model a long time ago before COVID, they would not be in this situation. On the other hand, the XFL is relatively new, with the potential to grow. Had COVID not hit, they would’ve been able to complete the season. These leagues will have to put a plan together that will satisfy sponsors and fans for this to become a reality.
Many players and fans want to see both of these leagues grow without a partnership. They have voiced their concerns on social media about the potential merger. Many Canadian fans love the three-down game and don’t want to play American rules, and the same can be said vice versa. Overall, while this sounds like a good movie script, I don’t think these leagues will merge. The challenges are insurmountable, and these leagues are better off staying separate.
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