Meanwhile, NBC's Jeff Zucker, named the network's head of entertainment after the XFL deal was announced, sounds guarded. And I look at this league in much the same way. The XFL, though, could pay a steep price for creating such wildly inflated expectations. But if for some reason the product is not the right mix and doesn't measure up to the hype, than you have large runoff and bad word of mouth. A few years back, when the real bad-boy network outbid CBS for NFL rights, executives there boasted they were going to reinvent broadcast sports and change the way people watch football.
Football is football.
But the XFL is promising much, much more. It's hyping a faster-paced game with announcers sitting in the stands and cheerleaders interviewed during the games. It also plans an all-access broadcast with cameras and microphones everywhere, including in huddles, on the sidelines and in the locker rooms. The network thought it would be fun to mike lots of players for the Super Bowl last Sunday and give couch potatoes a real sense of the sideline excitement. Hyped up for the big showdown, players let the profanities fly, right onto the airwaves during the pre-game show.