Vince McMahon’s XFL football league is reportedly having TV deal talks with Fox and ESPN, according to Sports Business Daily, via Awful Announcing.
The pair of TV deals for the XFL would see games air on ABC, Fox, ESPN and FS1. The talks do not involve the XFL airing on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+, at least as of now.
SBD sources noted that XFL officials expect to have at least two-thirds of their games air on broadcast TV.
The XFL will re-launch in 2020 on Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9, the weekend following the NFL’s Super Bowl. 8 teams have been announced for the re-launch season, representing New York City, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay and Washington, DC.
SBD also reported that the Alliance of American Football, which will compete with the XFL in hopes of one day competing with the NFL, currently has a TV deal in place with CBS. At least one AAF championship game will air on CBS in April and their cable channel, CBS Sports Network, is committed to airing at least one AAF game per week. The AAF will also be promoted during the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday coverage on CBS, and they’re said to be in talks with the NFL Network to carry several games. The AAF will debut on Saturday, February 9 of this year.