XFL: Is a Shortened Season Hurting the Product

With only 8 teams in the XFL, there isn’t an opportunity for a much longer season. In its first season, things are going to be a little bit of a learn on the fly for the new league. Since hindsight is 20/20, looking back on this year did the league limit itself by not finding a way to stretch the season a little longer?

First, with the NFL having 32 teams they can split games between divisional and conference play. Then they’ll have 4 games across the opposite division to stretch out the season to 16 games. 6 opposing teams in the division they’ll play twice a year, then 4 from the conference and 4 random. With the XFL it’s harder to do. With only 2 divisions consisting of four teams, if they play the same division twice a year (six games) and each from the opposing division (four more) then that’s the 10 they’re currently playing. With a little creativity, the XFL could have stretched up to 14 games playing each team twice until more teams could be expanded.

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Even if they wanted to keep it into a smaller window, the XFL could have dropped two of those games and kept it to 12. Two games might seem a nitpick when it comes to the bigger picture, but the level of competition in the first few weeks, so far, is hard to judge. If football has proven anything, the first few weeks of play are teams learning to gel and learn to win. Typically that time frame is usually 3-4 good games but can be up to six.

With a shortened season, the XFL holds its competition too close together. One or two teams might pull away from the pack, but while teams are learning to play as a team, the wins and losses will be a mixed bag. Proving to be true, four weeks in it seems the entire XFL is sitting at 2-2 or 1-3.

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Now it’s the turning point of the team and when it comes to making the playoffs, too many teams will have similar records. With the teams so packed tightly will the tie-breaker be enough to make it seem like teams deserve that playoff spot. If in the next six weeks, four teams don’t pull away from the pack how hard will it be for fans to feel their teams truly fought off the competition?

Teams with a .500 record in the NFL barely squeak into a wildcard spot. In XFL those teams might be division winners that aren’t much better than teams being kept out. While 2-4 extra games might not seem like a difference-maker, it would eliminate the learning curve that started the season. Hopefully, the XFL makes it to a second season this time around. They might not be ready to expand the teams yet, but maybe they can expand the season.