Editing XFL (2001) (section)

==Legacy==
NBC continued airing professional league football beyond the demise of the XFL, starting with the [[Arena Football League]] (AFL) [[AFL on NBC|television coverage from 2003 to 2006]]. In [[2006 NFL season|2006]], NBC returned to coverage of NFL games with ''[[NBC Sunday Night Football]]'', eventually adding ''[[Thursday Night Football]]'' to its coverage in [[2016 NFL season|2016]].

The XFL's racier-than-average cheerleaders helped inspire the [[Legends Football League|Lingerie Football League]] (now Extreme Football League) and the "Lingerie Bowl" from 2003 to 2006. The LFL is currently the largest women's American football professional league.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-history/xfl-cheerleaders-contributed-to-leagues-demise/ |title=XFL cheerleaders & how they contributed to its demise |date=June 22, 2018}}</ref><ref name="SmithKasum2014">{{cite book |first1=Michael N. |last1=Smith |first2=Eric |last2=Kasum |title=100 of the worst ideas in history: Humanity's thundering brainstorms turned blundering brain farts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2D2JAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |date=June 3, 2014 |publisher=Sourcebooks |isbn=978-1-4022-9393-1 |pages=133–}}</ref>

XFL team names and logos sometimes appear in movies and television where professional football needs to be dramatized, as licensing for NFL logos may be cost prohibitive (such as in the [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] starring sci-fi film ''[[The 6th Day]]'').<ref name="ABready" />

The [[United Football League (2009–12)|United Football League]] later placed all four of its inaugural franchises in former XFL markets and stadiums. However, the UFL drew far fewer fans than the XFL average, and much less media attention: for example, the XFL's [[San Francisco Demons]] drew an average of 35,000&nbsp;fans, while the UFL's [[Sacramento Mountain Lions|California Redwoods]] drew an average of 6,000, despite both playing in the same ballpark. Three of the four charter teams, including the Redwoods, moved to other markets by the time of the UFL's [[2011 UFL season|third season]].

[[ESPN]] produced a [[documentary film|documentary]] surrounding the league, ''This Was the XFL'', as part of its anthology series ''[[30 for 30]]'' (the title is a play on Vince McMahon shouting "This is the XFL!" before the opening game, changing "is" to "was" since the league failed).<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dickey |first=Jack |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Tougher version of the NFL? That was the XFL's goal |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/19/xfl-documentary-espn-30-for-30 |access-date=January 20, 2024 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |language=en-us}}</ref> The film discusses the longtime friendship between McMahon and Ebersol, as seen through the eyes of Dick's son, [[Charlie Ebersol]], who directs the film. McMahon, Dick Ebersol, Dick Schanzer, [[Rusty Tillman]], [[Al Luginbill]], [[Rod Smart]], [[Tommy Maddox]], [[Paris Lenon]], league President Basil DeVito, costume designer Jay Howarth, [[Jesse Ventura]], [[Matt Vasgersian]], [[Jonathan Coachman]], [[Bob Costas]] and [[Jerry Jones]] all provided interviews for the film. It debuted at [[Doc NYC]] November 11, 2016, and premiered on ESPN on February 2, 2017.<ref name="avclub-3030xfl">{{cite web |title=30 for 30 shrugs at the train wreck that was the XFL |url=https://www.avclub.com/30-for-30-shrugs-at-the-train-wreck-that-was-the-xfl-1798190234 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=February 2, 2017 |publisher=[[Univision Communications]] |access-date=March 7, 2017}}</ref>