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The
World Wrestling Federation announced Thursday that the XFL, co-owned
by NBC, will be closed down after only one season. The league made
numerous changes during the year in an effort to stop the ratings
from falling. Nothing they tried worked. The brain-child of Vince
McMahon, the WWFE chairman, tried to blend sport with spectacle
unsuccessfully. "While we believe that it is an extraordinary accomplishment
to have created a new professional football league in what amounts
to less than a year's time, we feel that it is in the best interests
of our shareholders and our partners to discontinue the XFL," McMahon
said. The WWFE will announce the operations and related costs of
discontinuance of the XFL as discontinued operations in its fourth
quarter results for the period ended April 30, 2001. The company
anticipates a loss of approximately $35 million. "Launching a new
football league in such a short time period was a daunting and exciting
challenge, but we gave it our best shot," said NBC Sports chairman
Dick Ebersol. 05/10 19:10:06 ET
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