XFL 3.0 didn’t perform as well on TV as XFL 2.0. But XFL 3.0 actually finished its season, which makes it a positive.
Via Bill Shea of TheAthletic.com, the XFL attracted an average viewership of 1.43 million for the championship game between Arlington and D.C. on Saturday night. The game was televised by ABC.
It was the highest number since Week One, when a pair of games on ABC generated 1.5 million and 1.6 million viewers.
“It performed within our expectations,” ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions Tim Reed told Shea. “We ended on a high note.”
in the 10-week regular season, the XFL averaged 622,000 viewers per game on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, FX, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. Eight games televised by ABC attracted average audiences of 1.13 million viewers.
The championship game, won by Arlington, brought 22,754 fans to the Alamodome in San Antonio.
There’s definitely room for spring football. It holds its own. And perhaps a merger of the XFL and USFL could make it even bigger.
Still, how profitable will it ever be? That’s the question. And if it ever becomes incredibly profitable, that’s when the NFL shows up and buys the whole thing.
The XFL originally debuted on 2001. The first game, on a Saturday night in February, racked up an estimated 54 million viewers.