So much for that: XFL suspends operations, lays off all employees and has no plans for 2021 season

ESPM.com ^ | 4/10/20 | Kevin Seifert and Field Yates

[hoagy62]

The XFL suspended operations Friday morning and laid off nearly all of its staff, multiple sources told ESPN. While a handful of executives remain employed, the league currently has no plans to return in 2021.

The league canceled its season last month after five games as part of a nationwide shutdown due to coronavirus concerns, pledging to return next year.

But XFL CEO Jeffrey Pollack changed course Friday, conducting a 10-minute conference call to inform employees of the news.

Commissioner Oliver Luck, hired in 2018 to guide the most ambitious spring football league in decades, did not speak on the call. It was not immediately clear if he is still with the league.

According to a prominent former XFL staffer who was on the call, Pollack stopped short of saying the league was going out of business. But the strong implication was clear. "It's done," the staffer said. "It's not coming back."

There was no immediate comment from the league.

[hoagy62]

Ah, hell. So much for a promising idea. Unless the NFL comes back as a pro-America, pro-family, get-rid-of-all-the-thugs league, I'll never watch another game.

This really and truly sucks.

[gibsonguy]

Another Virus casualty.

[nhwingut]

The doomsayers get another scalp

[SamAdams76]

Commissioner Oliver Luck, hired in 2018 to guide the most ambitious spring football league in decades, did not speak on the call. It was not immediately clear if he is still with the league.

More like Commissioner "Hard" Luck.

[TheTimeOfMan]

Bummer. I was looking forward to watching football again.

Piss on the NFL. I will never watch them.

[Obadiah]

Give ‘em credit, they actually put a pretty good product on the field, although it did get a little too gladiator-ish. I just think college football and then the NFL is near the saturation point and the XFL was just too much product. Also, a lot of other sporting options... or at least there was.

[dfwgator]

Maybe when he leaves office in 2024, Trump can restart the USFL.

[monkeyshine]

Invest in video game competitions lol.

[dfwgator]

He Hate Me is deeply saddened.

[DannyTN]

[Obadiah]

LOL. Um, yeah.

[mylife]

And the jets hired kapernick for 9 mil!

[dfwgator]

Well Rod Smart actually did make it to a Super Bowl with the Panthers.

[Libloather]

[Dacula]

I got to watch several USFL football games.

Houston Gamblers
New Jersey Generals
San Antonio Gunslingers

[real saxophonist]

Oh, darn. What EVER will people do?

#nationofslugs

[dfwgator]

The Old Head Ball Coach coached the Tampa Bay Bandits.

[real saxophonist]

In my Drum Corps days, we did a halftime show at a Birmingham Stallions game.

As we were finishing and coming off the field, the players had already gotten back on the sideline.

They got out of our way, and every one of them was saying things like, "Dude, that's the LOUDEST thing I've ever heard!"

[Meatspace]

He picked the wrong year to state a football league.

[Dilbert San Diego]

I remember the San Antonio Gunslingers in the USFL. I remember some others such as the Houston Gamblers, in which Kenny Rogers, the Gambler, was one of the owners/investors.