Illegal Motion
For it’s next trick, the WWF tries its extreme formula out on football.
Vince McMahon is at it again. Having blurred the lines between sports and entertainment so effectively with his World Wrestling Federation, McMahon is now ready to try his formula elsewhere. This winter, football gets tossed in a slightly different direction when the XFL (Extreme Football League) debuts one week after Super Bowl Sunday.
A stand-alone corporate entity housed within the WWF’s Stamford, CT, headquarters, the XFL is owned equally by the wrestling company and TV network NBC. The new league is McMahon’s “improved” take on the gridiron circa the 1960s – a rougher version of a sport that has since softened up through numerous rule changes designed to protect players. (Some would say it has become more civilized.)
XFL will update that “smash-mouth” style with the help of different rules, technology, and a unified league infrastructure. It promises “a brand of football that hardcore football fans haven’t seen in a long time, and a brand of football that newer fans have never seen before,” the XFL says. (Exactly how many fans really have been screaming for a rougher, tougher league remains to be seen.)
The strategy is to satisfy post-Super Bowl football cravings by staffing up with players from both the professional (NFL, CFL, AFL, or NFL Europe) and college ranks. Players, 4,000 of whom have signed up for try-outs in person and online since the call was sounded, will be paid a base salary but receive weekly “victory bonuses” payable after each game. (Players are initially being signed to one-year contracts.) With the league in full control of all operations, there is no chance of strikes or lockouts, and one entity controls all television broadcasts, sponsorships, licensing, and just about everything else.
Without disruption from competing factions, the XFL says it can roll out at lightning speed. “Fans are disenchanted with football’s high ticket prices, low access to players, and weak information,” says Michelle Difilippantonio, vp-integrated marketing. “We’re going to give fans what they want.”
According to the rule changes designed to enhance action and speed, games will be completed in under three hours. Halftime will be limited to 10 minutes, the play clock will run 35 seconds, forward motion will be allowed on offense, and all punts and kickoffs will be in play. (No sissy fair-catch rule here.) Field size will not change.
Fans will be closer to the energized action: Cameras will be positioned in locker rooms, on sidelines, and in the helmets of select players. Microphones will let fans hear players, coaches, huddles, and locker room pep talks. (Prepare tape delay now.) Ticket prices will be kept at nosebleed-seat prices.
Following a 12-week, 10-game regular season, two playoff games will be held the weekend of April 14. A championship game will be played the following week. Games will air Saturday nights on NBC, Sunday afternoons on TNN, and Sunday evenings on UPN. Eight teams will inaugurate the league in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Memphis, San Jose, CA, Las Vegas, and Birmingham, AL.
On the marketing end, sponsors will be able to sink their teeth into unique programs. Unlike other leagues for which sponsors buy licensing, TV, and promotion rights from different outlets, the XFL’s single-entity structure will allow brands to cherry-pick tie-ins across teams, markets, stadiums, and events. Individual teams will assist with regional execution on marketing programs. Sponsor deals are category-exclusive and available for one-year terms or longer. (The first 10 sponsors were expected to be unveiled as PROMO went to press.)
The new league will be pitched to younger viewers as well as disenchanted football fans. The XFL will help develop consumer promotions with sponsors and will leverage the resources the WWF has in TV, sales, marketing, and licensing, Difilippantonio says. In-house marketing begins later this month via TV and print ads. Promotions tied to the WWF will follow in January, with support from licensees and sponsors.
Keep in mind, the NFL is one of the most successful and well-known sports enterprises in the world. While the XFL hardly threatens its status, expect the old league to keep a close watch on this newbie. At the very least, the XFL may give NFL marketers a few ideas.
USA Home Entertainment enlists partners for its direct-to-video debut.
Franklin’s moving up in the entertainment world.
Popular children’s character Franklin the Turtle takes a small step forward Oct. 10 when the direct-to-video Franklin and the Green Knight hits retail shelves in VHS and DVD formats. New York City-based USA Home Entertainment (formerly Polygram Home Video) has added a few veteran marketers to help it handle the company’s first video release.
Minneapolis-based Radisson Hotels will insert a coupon into one million-plus video boxes offering buyers a night free when they spend one paid night at a Radisson property. The hotel chain will also place Franklin ads in its in-room Voyageur magazine. “We’re getting some exposure among a consumer group we want to be exposed to,” says Brian Stage, Radisson executive vp-marketing and sales. “And we’re getting some positive association with young consumers early on.”
Restaurant chain Applebees, Marietta, GA, will run various Franklin activities in its 1,200 outlets, promoting the release on, among other places, kids place mats and tumblers.
And Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears, Roebuck and Co. will set up Franklin boutiques within 850 full-line department stores featuring piles of exclusive merchandise. Sears will run an endless two-episode loop from the Franklin TV show plus a spot from the Knight release during operating hours.
USA will undertake a multi-million dollar media campaign to support the 75-minute film. (The DVD version will have enhanced content such as digital coloring books, puzzles, music videos, and Web site links.) Plans call for other direct-to-video children’s titles in the fourth quarter.
The Franklin franchise has been gaining momentum. The young turtle appeals to kids with wholesome messages conveyed in a way “that they’re not forced down children’s throats,” says Jackie Lawes, USA Home Entertainment’s manager-children’s and special event marketing.
The book series has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Already a hit TV show airing during Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. programming block, the property this month expands over to a slot in CBS’s Saturday morning kids line-up. There are about 50 licensees (through deals with licensor Nelvana, Toronto) that produce apparel, toys, and accessories worldwide.
