“They’ve been looking at every single game, what worked, what didn't work.” The Washington Post’s Jake Russell on the XFL’s Return to Washington D.C. in 2023

By Reid Johnson

On the August 26th episode of The Markcast, Jake Russell of The Washington Post made an appearance to talk about the XFL’s return to Washington D.C. and what to expect when the league hits the field for a third iteration in February 2023.

Jake, a die-hard football fan never had much interest in “alternative football” leagues until the XFL 1.0 came around in 2001.

“So growing up a diehard football fan, I'd never really had that much access to alternative football leagues as a little kid, I don't think the CFL was televised. Then Vince McMahon brought along XFL 1.0, when I was 12 Years old and I was at the peak of my NFL/WWF then now WWE fandom. When you combine like the best of both worlds, it was like I'm watching every single week, I’m watching every single game, so I was hooked with that league back then, I was really disappointed when it only lasted one year.”

When the XFL 2.0 returned in 2020 and had Washington D.C. as one of its initial 8 cities, Jake felt optimistic about the league’s chances before the pandemic shut everything down.

“I was disappointed when the second one went, you know went, bye bye because of the coronavirus pandemic. I thought that one had a good chance to stick around based on the financial investment put into it, the television marketing that they had, the TV rights that they had back then, and taking itself a little more seriously.”

The XFL’s return in 2020 brought along many innovations both on and off the football field which intrigued Jake as well as many other fans giving the league a first look.

“I thought with like the rules innovations, the camera angles, the different technologies they were trying. I thought they were doing really well.”

Although the pandemic shut the league down midway through its 2020 season, the XFL TV ratings were beginning to trend downward, Jake feels that that dip should not be too incredibly alarming.

“As expected the TV viewership went down from week one to week five, that was kind of to be expected with kind of any startup league, because initially, people wanna see what's new, they wanna see what innovations are going on, they wanna see how they're, you know, enacted. Of course naturally, as time goes on, they'll decide whether they wanna watch it or not.”

The XFL 3.0 regime has been hard at work prepping for their 2023 re-launch, Jake thinks it will be interesting to see how much carryover there is from how the league looked and felt in 2020 and what will return to XFL 2023.

“I’d have to imagine over the last couple of years, they’ve been looking at every single game, what worked, what didn't work. I would imagine you would think they would have to keep that kickoff rule that they had last time. I thought that was one of the better innovations that they had. I thought that was a great idea, it was unique, it was different, a combination of that and player safety. It also encourages kickoff returns, which the NFLs basically trying to, you know, relegate from the sport, which is disappointing.”

In terms of the XFL’s announced partnership with the NFL and its Alumni Academy, Jake is intrigued and optimistic.

“It's smart for them to want to be kind of a feeder league to the NFL that would help ensure business that would, you know, ensure stability, ensure a nice healthy working partnership with the NFL. I feel like they're separate enough from the NFL that they have the wiggle room to try out different things, to try out different rules like they did last time around and I think that's kind of what the NFL would want them to.”

Concerns have been raised about the XFL (and the USFL) focusing too much on being a minor league or “development” league for players and the leagues using that as a selling or marketing point to attract fans, Jake had this to say:

“If your number one goal is getting guys onto the next show and not worried about, you know, building your own league, I don't know. Do you worry about that turnover and them that like that is their selling point moving forward? I think there has to be a balance.”

In terms of casual NFL fans being “anti-XFL” or alternative football leagues and not wanting them as leagues to succeed, Jake suggests those detractors not watch, and find something else to do with their time.

“I just don't understand why people complain about spring football. Like if you don't like it don't watch it. I just don't understand the negativity towards it. I mean, that's just the same thing with pre much every other sports alternative out there. If you don't like it, don't watch it.”

You can check out Jake Russell and my full interview from our August 19th episode, I’ll include the link below.