Source: XFL informs players it is suspending play

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The XFL was one of the only professional leagues not to make a decision on its season. It now has.

Multiple sources tell PFT that the league has informed its players that it is suspending play.

The league will attempt to play at least the championship game in a few weeks, one source added.

The league has played five weeks of a 10-week schedule.

The postseason schedule has semifinal games on April 18-19 with the final in Houston on April 26.

It’s the last thing the start-up league needed, but with nearly every other pro league having suspended play, it seemed inevitable.

The NBA, NHL, MLS and others announced suspensions their seasons and the NFL cancelled its league meetings due to advice to limit large gatherings as a way to slow the spread of COVID-19. Major League Baseball has canceled the rest of spring training and delayed the start of its season.

16 responses to “Source: XFL informs players it is suspending play

  1. Bad break for them but maybe they can push back the schedule. It’ll still be Spring and they won’t have to compete with NCAA hoops. If the NBA is still off we’ll need something.

  2. This might have killed the XFL. All momentum it gained is now lost, and since it was a new fledgling league, it doesn’t have the same recognition the other leagues have to just start back up. This is really unfortunate. I hope it can recover.

  3. XFL has the most compromised immune system compared to the other leagues that suspended. Hopefully the virus doesn’t kill them.

  4. I hope the players will be okay physically and financially. It doesnt sound like they make much money, and I doubt the new league can afford to pay them without games.

  5. Suspending play is more graceful than folding the league because they’re broke. (Not that I have any inside info, which I do not.)

  6. If i was in charge, i would have played those games even with no fans in attendance. They would be competing against nothing sports related this weekend other than golf. Plus alot of people are obviously staying indoors. They would have had by far their best tv ratings of the year. The league will be dead now if they try to restart when the major sports pick back up. This was their best chance to capture an audience

  7. It was a tough call, because there wasn’t any fans actually showing up to the games as it is

  8. Well at least people now have something to blame when the league fails, other than inevitability

  9. I agree they should have played in empty stadiums. The TV coverage would have been OUTSTANDING for the XFL. They missed an opportunity.

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