Note to the XFL: How to Be Popular – My Advice on Staying Successful

Buddhist monks exhort their acolytes to cultivate a “beginner’s mind.” This means that you don’t have to be boxed in by what you already know.

You can be a beginner at anything, even in a pursuit where you already think of yourself as an expert (as any parent trying to help their kid with “new math” will tell you. It’s unrecognizable!).

You can create this beginner’s mind by excising all “givens” about a subject from your mind and starting fresh. Look at your subject with new eyes, as if seeing it for the first time, and you will find new facets in even an oft-polished gem.

My point, XFL, is don’t do what other the other big leagues do. You are new. The world of alternative-league football is wide open right now. Take advantage and create a new type of system, avoiding the mistakes that other leagues have made, to the detriment of all.

Here are my best Note to the XFL: How to Be Popular suggestions.

I remember when baseball was America’s sport. I would go to watch the SF Giants and sit in the bleacher seats for $2. Just to reiterate, that’s TWO DOLLARS.

Then, the MLB decided to get fancy. They tore out the bleachers and replaced them with $60 seats, and suddenly, baseball was no longer an entertainment option, at least not for a college kid.

Not coincidentally, baseball lost its luster for many Americans, and it happened very rapidly. Now, it’s corporations who own blocks of the best seats, such that many seats are empty during games, even in cherry locations behind home plate.

XFL, don’t let this happen to you. Jack up prices on merchandise or advertising space or dashboard bobbleheads, but keep the fans coming, or none of it will have any value anyway. Let’s look at some numbers for reference.

The average hourly income in the US is $25, and the average number of kids per US household is two.

A family of four would need $604 to attend an NFL game. To watch baseball, the amount needed is $336. These prices mean that attending games is a “special occasion” type of outing and not a weekly pastime.

It’s simple math.

Offering unsold game tickets for free to local kids, schools, civic groups, and charities is a solid investment and will (counterintuitively, I know) increase the value of tickets and build the appeal of attending the game in person. Here’s why.

Peter Pan author, J.M. Barrie, worried that his play wouldn’t be a hit, so he offered any empty seat to an orphan. Thus, the theater was crowded, the kids roared with laughter at all the right moments, and everyone had a great time, guaranteeing the play’s success.

There are a couple of lessons to take from this: 1) a full house generates excitement and the likelihood of return customers, and 2) kids can grow up with their favorite XFL team and will almost certainly beg parents for merchandise.

Therefore, XFL, let your love of children put gold teeth in your mouth and a sweet shine on your Lamborghini.

By all accounts, the XFL is going to be big in the fantasy football world. This is great for people who are already familiar with setting up fantasy teams, betting on fantasy football, drafting players, etc. But for those who want to get in on the sport and don’t know where to begin, the XFL can benefit from making it easy.

Hand out info sheets at the stadium. Make some announcements at halftime. Put a sample fantasy layout on the big screen. Make it one more way to enjoy the games while making it as accessible as possible. Get the kids into it.

According to the Washington Post, around 60 million people play fantasy football, and it has served to increase interest in the NFL. That is the equivalent of one-fifth of the population of the United States!

Fans looking to get into the world of fantasy football can check out some XFL DFS tips here.

Dear XFL, you’ve done just about everything to make this league a success. But you’ve forgotten one very important thing (I’m talking to you, Vince McMahon). The name of the championship game!

Before the Super Bowl was the Super Bowl, it was the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Snore. It wasn’t until Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt saw his kids playing with a Super Ball that the idea for the name “Super Bowl” came to him.

What toys are your kids playing with this year? Right now, the hot seller at Target is the Lego Star Wars Wing Ship (so how about the Jedi Bowl, All Rights Reserved? Or the Obi Win?). The second-best-selling toy is Elsa’s castle from Frozen II. So…uh…the “Let It Bowl”? Or “The Fire and Ice Face-Off”?

Or, since most football championship games are in crap weather, and this one will be in April, how about the “Only Comfortable Football Championship”? Or the “Bowl-in-Green”?

Okay, I’ll stop.

Now, it’s your turn.

The XFL is already garnering plenty of interest. XFL sportsbooks have been busy setting up lines. People are buzzing about XFL DFS. The league has some interesting player talent and coaches to keep an eye on. There are already plenty of reasons why the XFL will succeed this time around.

But they’ll need to work for it, hence my note of advice to help the XFL succeed. Keep XFL games affordable. They don’t have to be dirt cheap, but at least bring prices within the realm of reality for most people.

Come up with a snazzy bowl game name and work hard to fill the seats.

A new baby is always exciting. People will show up initially just to make sure you have all your fingers and toes. Using these simple tips will keep them coming back for more.

The XFL is owned by a wrestling mania guru, so keeping things entertaining shouldn’t be difficult. A little razzle-dazzle never hurt anyone. (Actually, that might not be true.)