XFL 2023

[Blue In BC]

They are switching to main ESPN channels this week after only being on FX last week.

Trying to boost the numbers.

This is game week 4 and ESPN is probably a pay subscription channel in USA. That limits boosting numbers. I checked what live audiences have been like and which direction they are headed. Of 12 games, 10 were below 13K, 1 game at 16K  and 1 at 24K ( week one ). Two games were below 6050 ( Vipers ) .


    Seattle Dragons vs Vegas Vipers ? FX ? 528,000 avg. viewers, 0.29 rating
    St. Louis Battlehawks vs D.C. Defenders ? FX ? 665,000 avg. viewers, 0.36 rating
    Orlando Guardians vs Arlington Renegades ? FX ? 550,000 avg. viewers, 0.33 rating
    San Antonio Brahmas vs Houston Roughnecks ? ESPN2 ? 543,000 avg. viewers, 0.32


Trending downwards.  Some of the week 1 tickets might have been given away to increase audience but I can't confirm that. Will check after this week to see any new trend.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Wonder how the Rock feels about this?

[Blue In BC]

Wonder how the Rock feels about this?

It's probable they expected early losses but how much will they accept as the season progresses. At some point low live audience and TV revenue has to increase or it's an early exit etc.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

This is game week 4 and ESPN is probably a pay subscription channel in USA. That limits boosting numbers. I checked what live audiences have been like and which direction they are headed. Of 12 games, 10 were below 13K, 1 game at 16K  and 1 at 24K ( week one ). Two games were below 6050 ( Vipers ) .


    Seattle Dragons vs Vegas Vipers ? FX ? 528,000 avg. viewers, 0.29 rating
    St. Louis Battlehawks vs D.C. Defenders ? FX ? 665,000 avg. viewers, 0.36 rating
    Orlando Guardians vs Arlington Renegades ? FX ? 550,000 avg. viewers, 0.33 rating
    San Antonio Brahmas vs Houston Roughnecks ? ESPN2 ? 543,000 avg. viewers, 0.32


Trending downwards.  Some of the week 1 tickets might have been given away to increase audience but I can't confirm that. Will check after this week to see any new trend.

For what it's worth, 2022 Week 4 CFL audience is here:

Week 4 TV ratings:

Friday
Hamilton at Montreal: 484,300

Saturday
B.C. at Ottawa: 372,800

Sunday
Calgary at Winnipeg: 673,200

Total Week 4 average: 510,100

[theaardvark]

10 times the potential viewership base, barely larger actual viewership...

[Foxhound]

Get back to me when the thing folds. That's my only interest.

[Tiger]

10 times the potential viewership base, barely larger actual viewership...

It is brand new and is not mean to supplant t NFL, NCAA or CFL for that matter.

It is spring ball with purpose that hopes to tap into the American desire for football when NFL and NCAA are not playing.    Im sure they will hype the players trying to make it to the NFL (and good luck) for viewership, advertising money and sustainability. 

I do not see it as a threat.

[The Zipp]

i tried and just couldn't do it...watched about a quarter and lost interest.  Probably how someone feels watching CFL for the first time.

[Blue In BC]

A couple of games on ABC this weekend. I might channel surf my way thru parts of them. More than anything just to see what attendance looks like.

EDIT:

1. Still no crowds and doesn't appear to be anybody on one side of the stadium
2. Nice early punt return by ex Bomber K. McKnight
3. Ex Bomber ( PR in 2021 and 2022 ) Blake Jackson

Level of football aside: How do some of these teams survive from a business point of view ( Orlando )? Gaurdians 0 - 6. Cue taps for their season and possibly some of their coaches. Attendance at that field has dropped from 12K to 8K for the 3rd game there.

[theaardvark]

Watched both games (on PVR so I could watch in less than an hour). 

Close games, but not because of competition to win, rather not to lose.

Tech kept glitching on the teams, the "big advancement" of giving better communications between coaches and players gets tossed out the window.  QB's used to having things fed to them on a platter suddenly have to call plays at the line.

General play was poor, play design and calling did not seem commensurate for the 6th game of the 8 game season.  Attendance was pathetic, can't imagine how many of the few tickets were actually paid for, couldn't have been many.

Uni's were unique, for sure, but not one would inspire me to buy one.

Still had decent production value, and the "peer into the review process" is a feature other leagues should pick up.

Unless "The Ocho" needs content, though, I can't see this league gaining any momentum and its only hope for survival is that the Rock makes so much money, he can keep this funded as his vanity project.  Like Musk and Twitter.

[Blue In BC]

Watched both games (on PVR so I could watch in less than an hour). 

Close games, but not because of competition to win, rather not to lose.

Tech kept glitching on the teams, the "big advancement" of giving better communications between coaches and players gets tossed out the window.  QB's used to having things fed to them on a platter suddenly have to call plays at the line.

General play was poor, play design and calling did not seem commensurate for the 6th game of the 8 game season.  Attendance was pathetic, can't imagine how many of the few tickets were actually paid for, couldn't have been many.

Uni's were unique, for sure, but not one would inspire me to buy one.

Still had decent production value, and the "peer into the review process" is a feature other leagues should pick up.

Unless "The Ocho" needs content, though, I can't see this league gaining any momentum and its only hope for survival is that the Rock makes so much money, he can keep this funded as his vanity project.  Like Musk and Twitter.

10 game schedule, not 8 games.

In the 2nd game, the team that won went 40 minutes before getting their 2nd 1st down of the game. They won because of a defensive score in an extremely low scoring game. Poor coaching decisions and too many penalties from both teams.

Paid attendance versus actual attendance is an interesting question.

[Blue In BC]

1    61,514    15,379
2    40,185    10,046
3    45,564    11,391
4    74,947    18,737
5    64,381    16,095
6    38,725    9,681
7    36,097    9,024
8    67,073    16,768
9    75,816    18,954
10    73,030    18,258
Season    577,332 Total    14,443 Average

[ModAdmin]

Former Blue Bomber...

Seattle Sea Dragons
@XFLSeaDragons
Apr 30
Kelvin McKnight is the first player to reach 1,000 return yards in the XFL!

[Blue In BC]

Former Blue Bomber...

Seattle Sea Dragons
@XFLSeaDragons
Apr 30
Kelvin McKnight is the first player to reach 1,000 return yards in the XFL!

Good work. It's interesting. The Dragons gave up the least amount of points so they weren't needing to do as many K/O returns. They also scored lots of points and were in a group of 3 within 6 points of each other in the fight for 2nd most.  IE: Controlled TOP so I suspect number of punts from opponents were reduced as well.

So he was effective when he touched the ball. I noticed his work when his team game was televised.

[Foxhound]

So has the thing folded yet or not?



In any event, we've got several months of real Canadian football ahead of us now.