By Alex DeClaire
The NFL may not have a competitor, but they absolutely have a brother league in the XFL.
It’s five weeks into this reboot and still entertained by the freshness of this league.
New broadcasting styles and game changes are still being ironed out despite the extremely professional look, but the Houstonians are here for it.
The Roughnecks are undefeated, and PJ Walker is must-see TV at this point. This past week the two Texas teams faced off with the Roughnecks coming out on top with 3 interceptions in the first half, and electric play from Walker as usual.
With the XFL Championship set to be played in Houston late-April the Roughnecks are heavy favorites to be the team to represent the West. That is if they make it to the championship.
Viewership has been trending downward since the start of the league and although Commissioner Oliver Luck has fought tooth and nail to stay relevant, it has not seemed to impact the amount of people in front of their TV on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Luck does not seem to be concerned by the numbers stating:
“At this point, I think everybody’s had their home opener (but) two or three games is not much of a sample size. So those are things we have to have a full year to draw any conclusions.”
Luck is correct that you cannot take a sample size this small and chalk it up as a loss. Any new iteration of a football league is going to struggle due to people drawing comparisons to the long standing and incredibly successful NFL. However, if the XFL keeps their numbers in the green I expect to see the Roughnecks play in the XFL championship game.
We have less than six weeks until the start of the playoffs and by then we will have a much better idea on the ability for the XFL to succeed in future seasons.