How the revived XFL is trying to create a 'league of culture'

Behind a bold new logo heralding a revamped brand mission encompassing innovation, inclusivity and a dedication to play nice with its established predecessors, the pro football league known as the XFL is preparing to tackle its third iteration in 2023. The XFL brand was created by pro wrestling magnate Vince McMahon and lasted only through its debut season in 2001, but was subsequently revived by McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment unit only to shut down after the pandemic interrupted its return to the field in 2020. The brand is now relaunching under new owners Dany Garcia, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners, which acquired it for $15 million in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2021. The new owners this week signaled an intention to build a “whole new universe for tommorrow’s league,” building on concepts like inclusivity, innovation and “co-creation,” that they say will distinguish the league from its predecessors, and from challengers like the USFL, which later this month begins its first season since shutting down due to financial issues in 1986. XFL 3.0 is notably arriving as a partner to—rather than an enemy of—the NFL. Particularly under McMahon’s initial vision, the XFL positioned itself as an attitude-laden NFL competitor, running its season concurrent with the NFL’s, in cities where NFL franchises existed, and emphasizing points of difference in playing rules and presentation that gleefully disobeyed established football customs. The new league is tentatively scheduled to kick off in February of 2023, following the NFL’s Super Bowl, so it won’t compete directly for its fans. “This is the first iteration of the XFL, because we don’t carry any of those past iterations,” Garcia said when asked about how the league’s history would be reflected in its new posture. “As you will see from the new logo, this is a whole new universe for us. This is tomorrow's league starting today. This is a league at the intersection of opportunity and culture. It’s a whole new genesis, so it’s hard to look at the past and say this is different because we starting with the best of the XFL, which was the passion of the fans, and then going from there.” Some executives from XFL 2.0 are also carrying over to the new organization, Garcia added. The league engaged global creative agency R/GA to design a new visual identity revealed this week. The stark black and white logo represents “a strong, dynamic and modern look that embodies our vision of pushing football forward and unleashing the dreams that football makes possible,” Garcia said in a press release. By crafting the organization around brand values that celebrate culture and inclusivity, the league is following the lead of its owners. Garcia is a former bodybuilding champion and entertainment magnate. Johnson—known professionally as The Rock—is a movie star, former pro wrestler and footballer who played professionally in the Canadian Football League. Cardinale, who founded the private equity firm RedBird Partners, has supported the creation of several sports-related businesses including the Yes Network, the New York Yankees’ regional sports broadcaster, and Legends Hospitality, the ticketing, concession and merchandise business co-founded by the Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Ad Age A-List 2022 Best agencies of the year, ranked Top production companies to know about Definitive rankings of advertisers and agencies “If you were to look at the resumes of Dwayne, Gerry and myself, you’d see we don’t enter any industry without trying to broaden it and make it better,” Garcia said. “Dwayne and I have a long relationship with the NFL, so we never go into any industry with an adversarial position. For the XFL in particular, we’re taking a position of being stewards of the game of football, one of our principals is expanding the game across the platform for every player.” A 'league of culture' The XFL’s brand values call for it to create a “league of culture” through “co-creation,” working with fans, partners and athletes to interact with one another. Goals around inclusivity and accessibility also concern bringing fans and athletes closer together to create new experiences and deeper engagement with the game. The league also intends to leverage innovation to “unlock new opportunities to win together.” A brands’ guide to the Nielsen turmoil These tenets will play out across a series of forthcoming announcements, league officials said, including brand and sponsor partnerships, broadcasting deals, team names, locations and logos, and head-coach appointments. Like its predecessors, the XFL will own and control all of its eight teams. (The USFL has already secured media rights deals with NBC and Fox, which has an ownership stake in the league.) “I’m pumped to reveal our new XFL logo to the world as we continue to strategically build our XFL organization and shape our one-of-a-kind XFL culture," Johnson said in a press release. “Here’s the bottom line of what our new XFL logo stands for: The X represents the intersection of dreams and opportunity. So, to our hungry XFL players, coaches and fans–you bring the dreams, and we’ll bring the opportunity.” A spirit of cooperation with the NFL will not position the XFL as a “feeder league” to its established counterpart but instead will take the lead on rules innovations that may eventually make their way to the NFL. The league is also participating in NFL-related activities like post-scouting combine Pro Days events where prospective athletes perform drills for pro scouts, said Russ Brandon the former Buffalo Bills executive who has been named president of the league. Brandon declined to specify rules changes and tweaks to the NFL game the XFL would use but said technology would play a large role in how it approaches those decisions. “We’re in building mode, and refining rules and using advancing technologies, to give consumers the best,” Brandon said. “We will continue to build over the next eight months.” To celebrate the reveal of the new logo, the league is also preparing to open an online merchandise shop selling tees, hoodies and other souvenirs at xflshop.com. That offering will be live in coming weeks, a spokesman said.

How the revived XFL is trying to create a 'league of culture'

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