-
Jack Welch
For those who want to watch professional football year round, you are getting your wish. Four professional football leagues will now be playing on national television. The XFL and USFL leagues strategically have their start and finish times to give fans football without competing against each other. With the addition of the International Football Alliance (beginning play in 2024), football will start in August with the NFL and end in the summer. The IFA has not released when their league will participate but hopefully, they will begin play after the USFL. If they do, it will give fans year round football. Those three leagues will overlap, but strategically will have ending dates after each league has finished regular season play. Over the years, startup leagues have not succeeded. It appears new owners have researched reasons why previous leagues have failed and have created their leagues to flourish. XFL and USFL executives report everything is going well. XFL and USFL ownership are pleased with the TV results. They believe the results prove everything is going according to plan. With spring leagues, the question is always will there be a second year. The USFL is proving there will be another season, as TV rating in their second year is proving to be way above expectations.
The USFL averaged over 780,000 viewers in the first week of their second season. Viewers watch USFL games on Fox, NBC, and FS1. April marked the return of their second season. They partnered with Fox and NBC to broadcast games, which is an effort to tap into the market for football during the NFL’s downtime. Obviously, based on success last spring and 2023 XFL success on ESPN, there is a viable market for professional football in the spring and early summer. The XFL began play in mid-February and finished in late April. The USFL begins in mid-April and finishes in mid-June. Now, let’s see when the IFA will play.
All these leagues have some different and interesting rules. Many things are being done to make spring football more entertaining. The USFL uses drones and helmet cameras to provide unique camera angles for viewers. Both the XFL and USFL have live audio from coaches’ communications. Both leagues have some well-known players. also. The IFA, expected to be on ESPN, has a mission posted on their new website. It states they are bridging the gap of international football by delivering the highest level of American football while implementing NFL-based standard rules of play within Mexico, and uniting football with American cities, creating the International Football Alliance. The mission also expresses a desire to unify a solid ecosystem to grow American football in Mexico.
The league is sporting some icons of American football. Hal Mumme, the well-known passing guru who created the Air Raid passing game, along with other well-known football personalities; John Jenkins, Noel Mazzone, Frank Gonzalez, and Michael Lewis. There are many others expected to be added soon.
Thoughts for the week: “Whatever you do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.' — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Dr. Jack Welch is an educator and college football coach. His doctorate is in educational administration, and he has been an educator, administrator, and football coach, mentoring young minds, for over 40 years. He is also the author of Foundations of Coaching. He can be reached at jackwelch1975@gmail.com.