McMahon: XFL to Return in 2002, but Not on NBC

The XFL will be back next season, only its games will not be televised by NBC, league founder Vince McMahon said Wednesday.

“There’s nothing official, but as for NBC showing games on Saturday nights, that’s not going to happen,” McMahon said during an interview about the first year of his football league.

A month after McMahon announced the formation of the XFL early last year, NBC came in as a 50-50 partner. As for NBC maintaining a business interest in the league, McMahon said, “That’s something we’ll have to sit down and talk about.”

NBC spokesman Kevin Sullivan said, “We’ll make an evaluation after the season.”

The season ends Saturday night with the XFL championship game at the Coliseum between the Xtreme and the San Francisco Demons, which NBC will televise. The 5 p.m. game is being billed as the “Million Dollar Game” because of the bonus money to be shared by the players on the winning team.

NBC averaged a 3.3 national rating for 10 regular-season XFL telecasts after starting out with a 10.9. NBC got only a 1.8 for last Saturday’s playoff game between the Demons and Orlando Rage.

As for Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura returning next season, McMahon didn’t rule it out.

“I think Jesse was unfairly criticized by a lot of people, myself included,” McMahon said. “He made a lot of contributions and was very supportive of the league, in spite of the media jumping down his throat.

“He wasn’t brought in for his football knowledge, although he does know football. The mistake we made was not putting a football expert in with Jesse in the first place. Once we teamed Jesse with Mike Adamle, I think those two, with Matt Vasgersian, made for an outstanding team. I would love to see those three come back.”

If they do, they’ll probably be calling games for UPN. McMahon said no TV deal is in place for next season, but he expects to work something out with UPN. Channel 13 is Los Angeles’ UPN affiliate.

“I think the network was pleased, and so were the affiliates,” he said. “I believe 85% got higher ratings with the XFL than they did with the programming they had before.”

McMahon also would like have a cable TV deal in place, and one with the National Network (TNN), which televised Sunday games this season, is a possibility.

“We’ll only play on Sunday afternoons, at 1 and 4,” McMahon said. “That’s when viewers are used to watching pro football.”

As for the possibility of starting the season later than one week after the Super Bowl, McMahon said that’s something he will have to discuss with league officials and team general managers.

“The way I look at it, next year will be our first year of business,” McMahon said. “We made mistakes and we have learned from our mistakes. Next season will be the real test.

“The WWF wasn’t built in a year. The same is going to be true with the XFL. The in-stadium experience is phenomenal, and from the TV standpoint we’ve come up with innovations such as microphones and cameras on the field that I think the NFL is going to have to look at.”

McMahon also likes the bonus-money aspect. Players on winning teams during the regular season earn an extra $2,500. Players on the winning team Saturday night will earn $26,000. Base salaries are essentially the same for all players, about $45,000.

“I think that’s a great system,” Xtreme quarterback Tommy Maddox said. “You don’t have to put up with egos and other stuff in the locker room.”

If anyone could complain about a system that pays everyone the same, it is Maddox. On Wednesday, he was named the XFL’s player of the year. But salary-wise that doesn’t mean a thing.

It doesn’t matter to Maddox. “I think what has been overlooked is that [McMahon] has created a league that’s a fun league to play in.”