During a recent episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff spoke on Vince McMahon opening the XFL. Here’s what he had to say:
I was watching it pretty closely. I was fascinated by it, and I was excited about it to be honest. I think the reason XFL version 2.0 didn’t work was entirely different than what Vince experienced in version 1.0. My feeling when the XFL was announced was that football is a seasonal sport. People have been conditioned for decades upon decades to look forward to fall football, not spring football…..football is important to most people’s lives. It’s as important to their lives as many things.
But the vast majority of the United States, once the Super Bowl is over, if they’re really big sports fans, they’re either moving into the finals in the NBA or getting excited about baseball or a lot of other traditionally seasonal sports. So, my instinct told me people weren’t gonna watch football in the spring, especially with a bunch of players they didn’t really know. They did populate the XFL with some names, but for the most part, these were guys who were on their way to play football in Canada that the average NFL audience probably didn’t know. So, I didn’t think it was going to be successful, but my impression of Vince, especially in 2001, was don’t ever bet against him. I was betting on him, even though my gut told me otherwise.
You can listen HERE.
Credit: 83 Weeks. H/T 411Mania.