The XFL is not phased in the slightest over the USFL having monster ratings in their first week of action.
On Monday, the league’s top executives held a virtual meeting of agents to pitch that they would offer higher salaries and better benefits than the USFL, according to ESPN.
“The XFL continued its efforts to counterprogram the USFL’s return to the field by convening a virtual meeting of agents Monday night to pitch them on the league’s plans for 2023 and beyond, a source told ESPN.
Ross, Whaley, and Giglio also suggested that the XFL’s season schedule, which will begin in February and end in May, would be more “advantageous” for players who want to get subsequent consideration from NFL teams, according to an internal outline of the meeting obtained by ESPN.
USFL players are receiving $4,500 per week in addition to bonuses if their team wins. They also receive subsidized housing during the regular season; The USFL pays $75 toward a daily $150 hotel room rate at the league’s one-site location in Birmingham, Alabama. Ross and Whaley told agents that XFL salaries will be higher and will include full housing and meal costs during the season.
Each of the XFL’s eight teams is expected to have 70-man rosters, with 45 active for games, translating to 560 jobs for players — about 200 more than the current roster limits of the USFL.
The USFL has already implemented the ability to block current players from going to the XFL next season by signing them to contracts with a one-year team option.”
USFL executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston said he believed the USFL would be “ahead of the curve” in any future competition with the XFL.
“I don’t know if it’s so much a race to see who gets there first,” Johnston said. “It’s now that we’re offset by a year, and who has that experience? It goes back to our [television] partners. Where would [the XFL] be able to compete with us when we talk about the presentation of the product? Let’s say the product is the same on the field, which I think is going to be a challenge for them to be able to match us, but how do you then deliver that to the fan? When you’re talking about Fox and NBC as partners, I don’t think there is a way for the XFL to match what we have created there in the ability to broadcast the USFL into television for the fans.”
The XFL and USFL going to head to head for players will only force both leagues to make sure their product is insanely perfect and that means nothing but good things for the fans watching.
