The XFL belongs with New Coke and Apple’s Newton as one of the biggest corporate flops of all time. When NBC tried to fill the void of losing the NFL to Fox by partnering with the World Wrestling Federation in a new Football league, it didn’t go so well. While ESPN, which was owned by ABC, expectdly didn’t give the league respect, even NBC mocked the “rough-and-tumble version of football. How did this partnership come to be and why did it fail so spectacularly.
These are the questions examined in the latest installment of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series. (I will just glide over the 92nd installment of the series.) I was entralled with every minute of this retrospective. The story is told through the lens of the friendship of WWF’s Vince McMahon and legendary NBC Executive Dick Ebersol. The story begins with the whole left at NBC when they realized the NFL was asking for too much money and there was a whole in the spirit of NBC Sports. Ebersol, who worked on NBC’s WWF broadcasts, called his friend after hearing about the XFL and an infamous partnership was born.
Many of us outside the TV industry believe the world to have a polish and professionalism that is lacking in our own industries. However This Was the XFL shows how the league was run by the seat of the pants. Anecdotes ranging from sandpapering the footballs to forgetting to put gas in the generators make the world of TV more relatable.
In addition to McMahon and Ebersol, they interview broadcasters Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Matt Vasgersian and Jonathan Coachman. Various NBC and WWF executives also pitch-in. We also hear from technical personnel ranging from costume designers to cameramen. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones discusses the impact the XFL had on the NFL while Bob Costas discusses the concerns he had with the league destroying NBC’s reputation.
Perhaps the most inspiring part of the documentary is how McMahon and Ebersol were able to maintain their friendship despite having partnered on a legendary failure. The film is helmed by Dick Ebersol’s son Charlie. Perhaps it is that connection that allows both partners to be open in their discussion of their biggest professional failure. That doesn’t mean the film glosses over some of the poor decisions made in the planning and execution of the XFL.
While the XFL might have been a failure, McMahon and Ebersol are not. In 2006, Ebersol regained the NFL for NBC when they grabbed Sunday Night Football from ESPN. It became the number one show in primetime and a badge of honor for the network. Of course this is just the icing on the cake of a producing career that ranged from Saturday Night Live to several Olympic broadcasts.
McMahon acquired WCW and ECW fulfilling his dream of uniting the wrestling world. The renamed World Wrestling Entertainment is now worth $1.5 billion. It is inspiring to see McMahon and Ebersol reunited and finally able to laugh about the whole experience after all these years. The XFL might have destroyed NBC’s Saturday Night ratings, but it didn’t destroy their friendship.
Even if you never watched the XFL, do yourself a favor and get a behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest failures the sports world has ever seen. You might not believe me, but it is actually quite inspiring.