The XFL officially called it quits on Friday, suspending operations and laying off all of its employees, except for a handful of executives. Vince McMahon's quirky league, which included a bunch of unusual rules, surprised a lot of people with its relative success over the past few months and in some ways seemed ready for the long run. The Athletic’s Arif Hasan, who covers the Minnesota Vikings (and formerly the XFL), joins us to talk about why the league folded, how the XFL evolved from its first iteration back in 2001, and what all of this means for the future of alternative football leagues.

Read more from Arif Hassan:

https://theathletic.com/author/arif-hasan/?source=theleadpodcast

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.