ESPN has released a trailer for their upcoming XFL 30 for 30 documentary, This Was The XFL, and it should be fantastic.
For those who don’t remember or have tried to forget, the XFL was a joint collaboration by WWE mogul Vince McMahon and NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol to try to create an alternative to the NFL. Needless to say, it didn’t work. The league was put to sleep after just one season in 2001.
As you can hear Dan Patrick say in the trailer, “The XFL was accused of selling out the dark side of gratuitous violence, tawdry titillation, lousy football and scripted low-life violence.” Unsurprisingly, it was one of the biggest flops in television history.
However, certain innovations in how football games were produced for television- like the skycam, for instance- were later adapted by the NFL and remain a part of the football-watching experience to this day.
#30for30 returns in February with #ThisWasTheXFL! pic.twitter.com/G1Fd714tLF
— 30 for 30 (@30for30) December 12, 2016
This was the XFL reportedly includes interviews with all the principles of the XFL, including both McMahon and Ebersol.
The documentary will premiere on February 2nd, which is during Super Bowl week.
