The XFL continued its efforts to counter-schedule the USFL’s return to the field by calling a virtual meeting of agents Monday night to present them with the league’s plans for 2023 and beyond, a source told ESPN.
The XFL’s top football executives — Marc Ross, Doug Whaley and Russ Giglio — told agents that the XFL would offer higher salaries and better benefits than the USFL.
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RELATEDRoss, Whaley and Giglio also suggested that the XFL’s season schedule, which will start in February and end in May, would be more “advantageous” for players who want to get further consideration from NFL teams, according to an outline. Reunion insider obtained by ESPN.
USFL players receive $4,500 per week plus bonuses if their team wins. They also receive subsidized housing during the regular season; the USFL pays $75 toward a $150 daily hotel room rate at the league’s only location in Birmingham, Alabama. Ross and Whaley told agents that XFL salaries will be higher and will include full room and board costs during the season.
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Each of the eight XFL teams is expected to have 70-man rosters, with 45 active for games, which translates to 560 player jobs — about 200 more than the current roster caps of the USFL. USFL players have signed two-year contracts, complicating any attempt to switch leagues in 2023.
The XFL, which last week named its eight head coaches in a live event on Get Up! of ESPN, declined to comment.
The USFL, owned by Fox Sports, had its relaunch with four games over three days, each broadcast nationally on Fox, NBC or one of their secondary channels. Its opening game Saturday night, simulcast on Fox and NBC, was watched or streamed by a projected average of 3 million viewers, the league reported.
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In the days leading up to the launch, USFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Daryl Johnston said that he believed the USFL would be “out front” in any future competition with the XFL.
“I don’t know if it’s a race to see who gets there first,” Johnston said. “It is now that we are compensated for a year, and who has that experience? It goes back to our partners [de televisi贸n]. where could [la XFL] compete with us when we talk about product presentation? Let’s say the product is the same on the field, which I think is going to be a challenge for them to match us, but how do you deliver it to the fan? When you talk about Fox and NBC as partners, I don’t think there’s a way for the XFL to match what we’ve created there in terms of the ability to broadcast the USFL on television for fans.”