On Friday, the XFL announced that they had suspended day-to-day operations effective immediately. The day before they suspended operations, the XFL refunded all season tickets to the fans for the 2021 season. ESPN received a statement from the XFL that said, “Given the uncertainty of the current environment, the XFL has suspended operations and is evaluating next steps.”
Reading this statement says to me that this league is not dead, but taking a hiatus given what’s been going lately with the Covid-19 pandemic. The XFL followed suit with the NBA, NHL, MLS, NWHL, NLL, and other leagues in postponing their seasons. Some have canceled the rest of their seasons, including the ECHL and NLL. The XFL was five weeks into their ten-week season schedule when they were forced to cancel the remainder of the season on March 20th. It didn’t help that one of their players from the Seattle Dragons came down with Covid-19.
Another indication that the XFL is not dead yet is a tweet from Steve Chenevey of Fox 5 Washington, DC, when he tweeted this out.
Just talked to an XFL coach who was on the conference call and confirmed: – league not yet permanently terminated but… – operations suspended with no word that it would return – only a skeleton crew of execs will remain at league HQ https://t.co/CUi2aA0pJZ — Steve Chenevey FOX5 (@stevechenevey) April 10, 2020
Right now, no one knows when sports will resume, and given the circumstances right now, many leagues may not even play this year. However, what no one is discussing is that the XFL did pay their coaches, players, and staff for the remainder of the season even though they only completed five weeks. If you look at other leagues in the past from the UFL to the AAF when they folded, they didn’t pay anybody and left them high and dry to find their own way home. At least the XFL took care of them and should be given credit for doing this. They clearly are not having any money issues, this tells me that they are not going away anytime soon.
When sports resume, it is going to take time to recover. There are so many people out of work that even if sports resume, they are not going to fill the stands right away. In a poll from Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, 72% of people with 61% identifying as sports fans said they would not attend a sporting event until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus, and you can’t blame.
The XFL did what other businesses have been doing in laying people off, and it’s a shame. Unfortunately, there is no sense in keeping people employed when they can’t perform what they are paid to do. But they are keeping a few people at the XFL headquarters in Stamford, CT. I don’t think they will have a 2021 season, but realistically, they could resume in 2022. Hopefully, by then, things should somewhat be back to normal, people will be back to work, and the XFL can get back to having football again.
In conclusion, I believe that the XFL is monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic situation, and once sports gets the green light to resume operations, the XFL will be back and better than ever.
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