A Look Back at the CFL/XFL Merger that Never Was...

The CFL/XFL war. Do you remember?

Where were you during the CFL/XFL war in 2021? Surely if you are a spring football fan and/or Canadian football fan, you remember. It was an ugly war of words between the enlightened CFL faithful and the ignorant Americans who neither knew anything about Canada, the CFL or even the folly of spring football. Leading the charge of ignorant American football fans were the fan produced and hosted XFL podcasts that did their best to serve the fans of a league that no one took seriously.

Now, before anyone accuses me of being an enemy and basher of spring football, let me state right off the top, I am not! I love gridiron football in all its many variations and forms. I was truly excited about the relaunch of the XFL in 2020, and followed it as much as I could during that spring, but at the same time I was excited about it, I was and still remain a football realist. Which is something most American spring football fans back in 2021 were definitely not, and I blame the members of the XFL media for getting fan's hopes up far higher than what they should have been. Why? Well, spring and alternative football has always been a money losing proposition not only for the investors, but also the players and others involved. Besides the American Football League, name me one league that competed with the NFL and lived to tell the tale? You can't, and if you say the Canadian Football League, you would be wrong, as the CFL has never been in competition with the NFL

With all that said, in 2021, the CFL and XFL 3.0 basically had a conversation along with a cup of coffee about what merger talks might look like and then left the Tim Horton's and went their separate ways. That was it. The CFL returned to play in 2021 after taking the pandemic year off and XFL 3.0 eventually took the field for one year in 2022 and then merged with USFL 2.0 in 2023 and became the newest incarnation of the UFL. Fortunately, as of this writing the UFL appears to be on the right track of being a viable long term spring league that those diehard XFL fans for years have been banging the drum to see. As for the CFL, well, it is in better shape than it once was and now has new media contracts that will hopefully keep all franchises healthy, as it transitions to a 100 yard field in 2027, but maintaining the 12 man and three down game.

Now, back to the CFL/XFL war of 2021. In sum, it was beyond stupid, and for that, as I said previously,  I blame the XFL (now UFL media). The biggest offenders did their best to hype up the war of words in order to gain viewers and listeners in the absence of any real XFL news, and in doing so showed their complete ignorance about Canada and Canadian football. Fortunately, they became quick learners and tried their best to educate both themselves and their loyal viewers and listeners about what the Canadian game was, but their initial ignorance about the CFL turned many enlightened professional football fans off, and as they stumbled their way trying to understand what a Canadian "providence" was and is. Fortunately the former XFL podcasters now know plenty about the Canadian game, but as the below episode of The Markcast shows us, back in 2021, the CFL/XFL war of words was just plain pathetic and stupid.  With all that said though, I do miss the Markcast. Reid and Paul were entertaining and did their best to promote alternative football, even if you disagreed with them, and I do hope Reid revives the show someday, for there will be a lot to cover as we head in to 2027.