The first televised encounter between two XFL football teams may have produced the best Saturday-night ratings since the World Series last October, but a steep fall-off in viewership as the game progressed -- together with a shellacking from TV critics and sportswriters -- left the forecast for the league's future still very much in doubt.

Commenting on the telecast, which drew a 10.3 rating/17 share, Tom DeCabia, with media buyer Schulman/AdvanswersNY, told Bloomberg News, "It's like a new restaurant and everyone went last night to check out the food. ... Now they have to see if they can do it on a consistent basis." New York Post sports columnist Phil Mushnick was not hesitant about making a prediction: "There isn't enough scripted low-life garbage to keep the pro wrestling fans and there's too much scripted low-life garbage to keep the football fans." The Associated Press commented: "It didn't take long to see what the 'X' in SFL stands for: 'X-hibitionism' and 'X-aggeration.'" AP particularly faulted the announcers, who included Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, for embellishing routine plays. "It sounded as if the announcers were trying to convince themselves as much as the TV audience that the XFL really is 'smashmouth football,'" the wire service said. The Chicago Tribune's Ed Sherman noted: "The first game was a mixture of bad football, bad lines and an overdose of political incorrectness."

However, XFL founder Vince McMahon, the billionaire owner of the World Wrestling Federation, responded this way in an interview with today's New York Times: "We'll continue to listen to the audience. ... We really could care less about the negative comments from the media."

Source: Studio Briefing