XFL Demise a Detriment to Bettors

While the hopes that the second coming of the XFL was going to be better than the first, there is serious doubt as to the long-term viability of the league after an announcement that came down at the end of last week. After getting off to a solid start with plenty of fanfare, the rampant spread of COVID-19, which has paused or halted any and all professional sports, took its toll and forced the league to cancel the rest of their inaugural season after five weeks back in mid-March. At that stage of things, the league was ready to push forward to 2021 and the proverbial future for the endeavor, while maybe not blindingly bright, still had some luster to it.

This past week, the announcement from the league’s COO, Jeffrey Pollack, stated that the league had suspended operations and that there were no plans to go forward in 2021. The vast majority of the league’s employees were laid off with the move, leaving more questions than answers going forward. WWE, which, through owner Vince McMahon, is the parent company of the organization, released a short statement. That statement said: “Given the uncertainty of the current environment, the XFL has suspended operations and is evaluating next steps."

Should the league not continue, it would be a blow to the betting community. The XFL was the first league to really embrace the fact that the sportsbooks had lines on their games. Commentators were urged to “embrace the spread” and point out where the teams stood in relation to the line, not to mention the total of each contest. That’s something that a typical sports fan has been unaccustomed to seeing, even in the advent of legalized sports gambling in the United States. Can you imagine Jim Nantz and Tony Romo talking about how Baltimore is barely covering a 17-point line over the Dolphins with five minutes to go while Miami has the ball? What about Joe Buck and Troy Aikman expressing the merits of the Cowboys going for a touchdown in the fourth quarter instead of a field goal in order to push their game with the Packers over the total?

While the quality of play was a bit uneven at times and the competition was a bit one-sided, the fact remains that the talent was there. It seemed as if the XFL was getting its feet under itself, both with the game action and with the commentators. Admittedly, it was a massive change for the broadcasts, as instead of focusing on a team scoring a touchdown and kicking the extra point, they had to take into consideration that a team could go for one, two or three points after a score. Now, a team could conceivably score nine points after a touchdown, taking away that ingrained concept where teams usually score in threes and sevens. It made things entertaining for both casual fans and bettors, who knew that if their team was down in the late stages, that the opportunity to get back into the game quickly was there.

The under was a favorable bet in the five weeks of XFL action, hitting in 60 percent (12 of 20) games on the year. In the final week of the year, the league saw their lowest-scoring game of the year, when the DC Defenders dropped the St. Louis BattleHawks 15-6. On the flip side, the league also saw its highest-scoring game as the LA Wildcats outgunned the Tampa Bay Vipers 41-34. The Houston Roughnecks, the league’s only undefeated team at 5-0, accounted for half the games that went over the mark as the over was 4-1 in their games. Houston was the league’s top-scoring team, averaging better than 31 points a contest on the year.

The XFL becomes the second spring league in as many years to fold up shop and drift away before completing their first season, joining the AAF of 2019. It’s disappointing to see a league that showed promise being washed away but the cross between COVID-19 and the declining numbers of the WWE have taken a toll on Vince McMahon’s bottom line. At this point, we have to hope that things turn around fairly quickly on the health front so that the sports world can get back in action. Will the NFL pick up on some of the things that made the XFL popular among bettors? After all, betting on the XFL in week one alone exceeded what sportsbooks handled on the AAF in its entire run. We’ll have to see what Roger Goodell and the owners are willing to embrace in an effort to further entrench themselves in the hearts (and wallets) of sports bettors.