XFL Folds

N E W   Y O R K, May 10 -- The XFL, a football league founded by the WorldWrestling Federation and jointly owned by NBC, folded today after one season that was a critical and TV ratings disappointment.

"We're discontinuing the XFL," WWF spokesman Judd Everhartsaid.

Despite many adjustments during the season, very little workedfor the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener andthe April 21 championship game, which was watched by about 75percent fewer people.

The final game's national rating was a 2.1, tying for 93rd placeamong prime-time shows that week and lower than anything else onthe four major networks. Each rating point represents a little morethan 1 million TV homes.

"Launching a new football league in such a short time periodwas a daunting and exciting challenge, but we gave it our bestshot," said NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who had hoped toprovide his network with football after it lost its NFL contractafter the 1997 season.

Sport or Spectacle?

The XFL didn't seem to be able to decide whether it wanted to bemore about sport or spectacle.

Early games had lascivious cheerleader shots, anti-NFL blusterfrom WWF types, sophomoric double entendres and screamingannouncers, who sounded more like shills than analysts.

By the end, most of that nonsense was gone. Although the qualityof the football might have improved during the season, it wastelling that the league's MVP, Tommy Maddox, threw more than twiceas many interceptions as touchdowns during a brief NFL career.