I've just read through this thread, and I've seen a lot of comments about how McMahon could make this work. Well, I'm probably not his target audience, since I was mainly interested in reading this thread because of the idea of competing with an entrenched competitor, and I haven't been a big sports fan since those effing KC Royals cheated in '85. That said, there is a *chance* that I might find something like this appealing if it met certain criteria:
1. I like the idea of games fitting into a 2 hour time slot - 3 hours at most - with maybe a chance of 30 minutes to an hour of overtime play if necessary to decide a game. I don't want to spend a whole day on watching a game.
2. Have women's teams that play each other included in the lineups. Don't force sexualization on players of either genders (but also don't prevent the players from "dolling up" for characters *if they want to*). Do games with both genders where safe/practical.
3. Borrow the idea of intro music, pyrotechnics, and multimedia displays for the teams from the WWE. *Encourage* players to have endzone celebrations as long as they aren't too long in duration, allow them to have aspects to their uniforms that make them distinctive on the field while still clearly showing their team, and maybe even allow players to have a signature move that they're allowed to do even if it isn't technically quite legal in the game - as long as collectively, game balance is preserved.
4. Keep politics, positive or negative, as completely out *of the games* as possible. No kneeling, no anthem, no political banners in the stands. On the other hand, ZERO censorship of the players *outside* of the games - politics, porn, whatever - and it should be made clear that, just like with the WWE, the characters the players play in the game aren't *them*, however similar or different they may be in real life.
5. Use *entertaining* sportscasters. Having former players who really understand the game and who can be insightful is great for the NFL, but is BORING for people like me. I'd rather have entertaining characters - they need to understand the game, but it doesn't need to be that deep. The closest I can remember the NFL coming was Dennis Miller - and they got him after he had gotten really bitter with life and had stopped being funny.
I know a lot of this might sound like blasphemy to some of you. But we're not talking about the NFL. The NFL is already the NFL. This new league needs to carve out a new niche, not try to take the NFL's. Also, bear in mind that while I'm suggesting playing to the strengths of things that McMahon may be used to with the WWE, I'm not suggesting that the games be scripted, faked, or rigged.
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