• The XFL 2.0 debuted in the spring of 2020 and immediately saw some success
• Fans filled the stadiums and watched on TV, but sadly the pandemic forced the league to file for bankruptcy
• New report from The Athletic claims players are getting screwed over unpaid salary, with most getting pennies on the dollar

Remember how Vince McMahon dreamed of relaunching the XFL a few years ago? Seems like an eternity ago, but, before this whole pandemic happened, football fans were filling the stadiums and logging in via TV to watch a league that was dubbed “for the love of football”.

Unfortunately, once COVID emerged, like so many businesses, the XFL failed. After suspension of operations in spring 2020, the league finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April of the same year, leaving hundreds of players at risk due to unpaid salaries. And if these players thought the league was going to pay back all those lost wages, well, this week’s news must have come as a real shock to the system.

According to an article by Athleticism, players get next to nothing, and many only get 4 cents on the dollar of the amount they are actually owed. Worse yet, the report claims that the XFL will not pay players until “late this year or early next year, based on a decision by the plan administrator in the ongoing bankruptcy.”

About 450 players from the eight teams each owed, on average, more than $ 14,000, according to the calculations of a group of players. Most have filed claims for $ 14,560, a huge sum for an unemployed minor league football player, based on advice from this group.

Instead, they will receive as little as 4 cents on the dollar of that amount, or $ 580.

“So it was kinda, you know, guys were thinking $ 14,000… it was kinda what we all figured out, based on the contract and stuff like that,” said Kenneth Farrow, who has played on the Seattle Dragons and is a co-founder of the United Football Players Association, which wants to represent players in developing football leagues.

It’s absolutely devastating, and just another sign that the XFL relaunched in 2020 was probably a bad idea to begin with. Sure, Vince McMahon and others touted it as a better league than the first version fans saw in 2000, but he lacked the only thing that would make it successful: funding.

The league has done some cool things in terms of implement unique rules and piquing the interest of fans, so kudos to McMahon and Co. for doing it. But after filing for bankruptcy, hundreds of players are now collecting around 4% of what they’ve earned, which must be driving the guys crazy as hell.

Of course, the league presented itself as different and made “for the love of football”, but many of these players never expected that kind of cheap payment. We should hope XFL 3.0 does better and is much more aligned financially so as not to screw the next batch of players.

(H / T Athletics)