DBWI: The XFL never caught on?

As we all know, the XFL remains one of the most watched sporting leauges in the USA despite early concerns that it wouldn't "catch on". What if these concerns proved true?
 
If it hadn't been for the XFL, the 2001 NFL strike might have killed professional football entirely rather than just ruining the NFL. That would have big implications for labor relations in baseball, basketball and hockey, too, both in terms of viewership/attendence and in terms of labor relations.
 
No way it wouldn't catch on. He Hate Me was too awesome to be ignored! The XFL allowed players like He Hate Me and Chad Ochocinco to be themselves, and be colorful at the same time. You think the NFL would have let Ochocinco change his name from Johnson? He'd just be another forgettable player in the NFL.
 
It helps that it was backed by Vince McMahon. Say what you will about him but he has that odd combination of business savvy and luck too get almost anything to work. The scary thing is that it almost didn't make it, the first two or so years they were barely breaking even. If the NFL settled the labor suits they could have driven XFL under with ease.
 
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