XFL Documentary To Air In February

popularity, the XFL tried to bring together football fans and professional wrestling fans, but it [...]

By Lan Pitts

xfl
(Photo: The Comeback)

Fifteen years ago, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol, a legendary producer at NBC, got together and fronted the XFL: the Xtreme Football League. The XFL was aimed to be a replacement sport for the NFL's offseason, but failed to capture ratings and a following and was shut down immediately following the XFL Championship game between the Los Angeles Xtreme and the San Francisco Demons, with the Xtreme winnings 36-8 (how apt).

Launched at the height of WWE's (then WWF) popularity, the XFL tried to bring together football fans and professional wrestling fans, but it was unable to create the center of that magical Venn Diagram. I mean you even had McMahon essentially cutting a promo about the league in his legendary Mr. McMahon voice.

It's been called one of McMahon's biggest failures and WWE and NBC lost around $35M each, after recuperating from their $100M investment. After being swept under the rug for so long, ESPN will be airing a 30 For 30 focusing on the ill-fated promotion.

From ESPN's official announcement:

ESPN Films' 30 for 30 "This Was the XFL" to Premiere in February

Documentary, directed by Charlie Ebersol and featuring Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon, to debut on February 2 at 9 p.m. ET; World Premiere to Take Place at DOC NYC Tomorrow

Three days before Super Bowl LI, ESPN Films will premiere the 30 for 30 documentary "This Was the XFL," directed by Charlie Ebersol, chronicling the short-lived, ill-fated pro football league. The documentary, airing on February 2 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, tells the story in fascinating, candid, and often rollicking fashion featuring fellow television legends and close friends – Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon.

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies — NBC and WWE — captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come.

Bringing together a cast of characters ranging from the boardrooms of General Electric to the practice fields of Las Vegas, "This Was the XFL" is the tale of — yes — all that went wrong, but also, how the XFL ended up influencing the way professional team sports are broadcast today. And at the center of it all – a decades long friendship between one of the most significant television executives in media history and the one-of-a-kind WWE impresario. This film will explore how Ebersol and McMahon brought the XFL to life, and why they had to let it go.

"I grew up on the sidelines watching my father and Vince enjoy incredible success with just about everything they touched, and then, along came the XFL," said director Charlie Ebersol. "I saw them take bold creative risks, face unparalleled success and failure with dignity, but most importantly they maintained and celebrated a friendship where most would have cut and run. I learned more about integrity and character in those 18 months than just about any other time in my life, so when ESPN Films asked if I wanted to tell the story of the XFL, I jumped at the opportunity because I knew that the real story was that of an unbreakable friendship."

John Dahl, Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films said: "We felt that the colorful personalities and storylines featured throughout the rise and fall of the XFL deserved a more detailed examination, and as Dick Ebersol's son, Charlie provided a personal understanding of it all. The XFL was a gamble, and even though the league didn't ultimately succeed, we think audiences will really enjoy this tale of risk and ambition."

"This Was the XFL" will have its world premiere tomorrow at the DOC NYC film festival in Manhattan.

I don't remember much about it at the time except the commercials that would air during Raw with Jesse Ventura stating how the XFL was "real football". Of course, he would later completely retract that statement after the company folded and talk about where it went wrong.

What do you readers remember, if anything about the XFL or is your only memory associated with the league Homer Simpson getting excited about the upcoming second season?

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