(Reuters) – Professional football league XFL said on Monday it has reached an agreement with the NFL to collaborate on programs aimed at innovating the game and protecting the health of players.
The main focus of the collaboration will be health and safety initiatives, with the two leagues working on forward thinking physical and mental fitness programs for players, the study of playing surfaces and equipment.
“The XFL has shown us that innovation is one of its core principles,” Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said in news release.
“We are hopeful that this relationship will support further development and improvements in the game of football at all levels.”
According to the XFL, additional avenues for collaboration may include international football development and scouting, as well as officiating, including the testing of different game rules for player protection.
“We have an open field for innovative rules to enhance in-game access,” said XFL co-owner Dany Garcia. “Sharing insights and practices between the XFL and NFL will do a tremendous amount of good for the game of football and support the player ecosystem overall.”
The XFL, a reboot of the 2001 league of the same name, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2020, a month after it had to cancel the remainder of its inaugural season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brainchild of Vince McMahon, the XFL reboot was the second attempt by the World Wrestling Entertainment impresario to provide an NFL alternative to football fans, the first folding in 2001 after one season.
Former wrestler and Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson teamed up with ex-wife Garcia and investment company RedBird Capital Partners to buy the XFL for $15 million in 2020, hours before the bankrupt American football league was set to be auctioned.
The XFL, which featured eight teams in its most recent season, is slated to resume play in February 2023.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
