Just look at the XFL, in which huge markets didn’t translate into big interest in a league that has shut down, apparently long term, a victim of the coronavirus crisis that has brought daily life in much of the world to a near standstill compared to normal times. The league halted its campaign last month at what would have been the midpoint of a 10-game regular-season schedule, saying it planned to return next year. But on Friday it suspended operations, laid off employees and multiple reports said the XFL will not be back in 2021.
If the league indeed is dead, after a short ride that was much more football focused than the carnival act that was the first version of the XFL’s one-season run 19 years earlier, St.