XFL 2023: Can You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking?

Traut

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XFL kicks off today.

This time with 8 teams who play 10 games in the next 10 weeks. Notable names include: Josh Gordon, AJ McCarron and other former NFL players.

Maybe the 3rd time will be a charm for the league.

Perhaps the rise of sports gambling makes it economically viable assuming we don’t get another pandemic in the next few weeks.
 
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Petagine in a Bottle

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I feel like I must have blacked out for the second season. When the hell did that happen?
2020, before covid ended it.

I imagine this will do OK for a week or two since nothing else is on, sports wise (although it won’t to nearly as well as prior iterations), and then fade off into nothing per usual.
 
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Traut

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And the USFL is coming in a few months. Does the world really need two mediocre spring football leagues?
The rise of online gambling gives both of these ventures an opportunity for success. Until last weekend, I had no idea that people can now legally bet on pretty much every play in an NFL game. Not just the over under or spread - like nothing too small to wager on.

The market for this is evidently large and necessitates games being played. I bet it does better than prior iterations. It may not grip nationwide attention but could be profitable on the backs of gamblers.
 

mauidano

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I'm watching sorta...I agree this is more about gambling in the larger picture. There seems to be a fair amount of money invested and fame with Dwayne Johnson as the face of the league.

Spring Training baseball games will probably be more exciting.
 

mauf

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What do we think the optimal strategy is for after-TD conversions?

Intuitively, it seems that going for 2 from the 5 would be better odds than going for 1 from the 2 or 3 from the 10, but I don’t know.
 

luckiestman

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What do we think the optimal strategy is for after-TD conversions?

Intuitively, it seems that going for 2 from the 5 would be better odds than going for 1 from the 2 or 3 from the 10, but I don’t know.
I wonder if there is enough 3rd and goal info from the different distances to get an idea of success rates. Then you can write an expected value equation. Thinking about it for 10 seconds that would be my approach.
 

Ed Hillel

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I turned a game on briefly, saw the equivalent of the Replacement Refs Fail Mary in about 10 seconds, laughed, then turned it off.

Beyond the quality, I think the biggest obstacle is the NFL burns fast and bright, so many people need a break. Plus NBA/NHL/College Basketball start to heat up. Can’t say I smell what The Rock is cookin’ with this one.
 

speedracer

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the live sideline interviews and overt gambling references are pretty cringe…but that was a perfectly decent drive for STL
 

Awesome Fossum

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That sequence of security taking the beer snake, fans throwing the lemons, and then DC running back a pick six was amazing. The XFL is the best.