The XFL did not mention the coronavirus in its statement or cite a specific reason for cancelling the season, which makes me wonder if they are actually going the way of the AAFL. I certainly hope not because, for me at least, there's definitely room for a developmental football league. I think there were a lot of interesting rules changes that I didn't mind as much as I thought I would and some I even thought were better than the way the NFL does it. If we do ever get to see the XFL again, here's some changes I'd like to see in year 2:
1) I really liked the idea of the legal double forward pass, we just never really got to see it used. Maybe because all the head coaches in the league were older old-school football guys that are too set in their ways. Maybe bring in more risk taking young offensive minds.
2) In the same vein as my first idea, I like the CFL rule that allows one receiver to be moving towards the line of scrimmage at the snap. They should bring this in.
3) Relocate and rebrand the 2 teams with the lowest average attendance: Los Angeles and New York. I think the easiest move would be for LA to ship south to San Diego, where the AAFL's team there averaged about 4,000 more fans than LA did. NY should also head south to San Antonio. "3 teams in Texas??" you might ask: and I say yes. That town has shown that they will support football in several leagues over the years, in fact the AAFL's Commanders led that league in attendance. Also, the NBA seems to do ok with their 3 Texas teams.
4) More former Longhorn players in the league! This would certainly increase my interest anyway!
I guess what I'm saying is that I've enjoyed having football to watch the last five weekends and I hope there will be more "off-season" football in my future!
