Dany Garcia Chairwoman -Owner | Russ Brandon XFL President Pregame Press Conference Game 2 Guardians

I love this town and you know shortly after that was the decision about buying the XFL keeping Orlando top of mind while we were going through that acquisition and while we were looking at our Marcus was always Paramount and this is this is an amazing day it's an amazing day to be in Miami town it's an amazing day to have this game here we've got a lot of Florida representation on that field we got the ogs as our coaches I mean it's really really special up in four games in week one we decided by four points or less is that the kind of competition you guys are looking for both I'm gonna let the president of that oh we're very pleased with the product on the field to date um coaches have done an outstanding job our athletes have we've had great six weeks of preparation down in Arlington to get to that point coming out of the gate uh week one extraordinarily pleased good game so obviously Thursday night in Seattle and then yesterday in a driving rainstorm in Las Vegas so good to be around some great weather and we're standing much we're thrilled to be here I'm sorry how did week one go as far as we saw the TV ratings bayana tennis how did that go so R I have to tell you we were so pleased that we're aligned with our expectations the fan attendance coming out in whether that was challenging and we had our fans come out in a passionate way the social media it was we were so excited about the digital conversation about the game the conversations about the rule changes the way the play was the dynamic play we had which was a very very big piece for us that exceeded our expectations I think as you guys know when you are starting any type of league and you know have you ever flash but the Groundswell can you have conversations that are happening socially are people talking about it that's what it really takes you and we were so pleased to see that Russ I know you had your thoughts yeah no I can tell you Mike from our standpoint um extraordinarily please with not only the linear distribution but what we have we've embraced the digital and social world and did as Danny mentioned the story lines the conversations back and forth between our fans our athletes our coaches our league in general I mean we over indexed everything related to um our social engagement so again very very pleased looking to build on it you know we we dropped our docuseries player 54. we have some other really neat things we're doing on the on the social side so a lot more to come on that front as well done on the game at Vegas yesterday are there any concerns about fashion fuel going forward no not at all you know we're working on the Cosmetics to a point but when you're from a football perspective the most important element is the structure of the field that field is extraordinarily sound we're very pleased with it now we dealt with some serious weather yesterday high winds heavy rain in the second half but uh in general the field held up very well and you know we'll continue to work on it and you know on the sort of the Cosmetics of it as I mentioned but no from a structure standpoint that feels As Good As It Gets you said crowds were within your expectations what does Orlando need to average you don't well first of all it's a success because we're here so I would I would I'm not going to throw a direct number out because our approach in Orlando is very similar to our approach in Vegas and any of our new markets which is you get there you build community and you get started I think we're gonna have a very nice turnout today I think the boys are gonna be really really happy we'll wait till the numbers are in we've got beautiful weather which I expected from Orlando so Orlando delivered for us but really we're about what are we doing week after week and even when the season ends what are we doing how are we good to be available here has this day been for you I mean you probably had it circled on the calendar for a while just this day yeah so uh it was so funny as I was walking with my team so they were like you are different today and it's a big day so you know I drove my truck here right so that is a big thing I parked I came I you know 17 20 minute drive it was about 28 minutes to see this happen in a town that you love when it's your hometown and you know be a part of what's Happening Here and adding to this community it's it's spectacular from this point on you know I am the chairwoman I love all my eight teams so I'm rooting for dynamic play and that's what I want to have out there and I want our fans to have a great day so it's really special oh this Allen from the Illinois it's supposed to create a show yes it's like seeing you again I just wanted to kind of ask you meeting at your auto chairwoman the games have been competitive have you heard any Strife from the players as far as rules or anything like that have gotten to that point yet no we have you know first of all I want to mention that we are so pleased with the lack of penalties in our game we're so pleased with the conditioning of our athletes how are you guys have probably noticed we have a fast game it is a fast game we had our athletes for five six weeks and so what they're putting on the field is fantastic you know we we work to be player first that was one of our tenants we commit to that Weekly but we have had great relationships and we have open communication yeah I think the open communication is critical and we have been out front with our coaches since May when our head coaches came on board and shortly thereafter our assistant coaches came on and then constant communication with our athletes some of the rules are different they've changed but they've they've wrapped it over and over again and what was very it really sort of impactful for us is that we were able to light up a bunch of different rules throughout week one and week two you know you don't have to go any further guys and the uh the St Louis San Antonio game last week where you you were able to see the three-point play come into play that game was 15-3 with a minute 23-11 they make the nine point play then they enact the fourth and fifteen which is only available in the fourth quarter they make that and then come down and win the game so um the kickoff rule the extra point conversion to have the opportunity to see all that in the first few weeks has been incredible now I'm just hoping for overtime so you can all see that around watching us it's for our partners to say yes you've reached that I know that we get up every day uh and we and we seek to continue to innovate and we seek to be you know Innovative in our philosophy and technology so that's a part of us and part of our culture so I'm not going to say that is I'm going to say that we commit to it every day for us as you guys marked toward profitability um how important is is the the fan piece and the you know building a fan base of I don't know 20 whatever your target is 20 25 000 whatever extremely important you know from our standpoint Danny mentioned earlier we're building this for the law of the Lost long-term sustainable model that we've built we're not putting numbers on anything like Danny said earlier you know just being in Orlando and being able to activate this Market is incredible we're so so thrilled to be here and so thrilled with being all of our markets so in we are a player first-hand fan first lead you know and you mentioned earlier about Innovations we're a league of innovation but we are not a league of gimmicks right so as we continue to evaluate each and every week to see what is best for our league moving forward tweak things as we go but in in general you know it's always about the fact and inactivating engaging pre-game uh during the game post game but then how you activate during the week with your fan from a social media standpoint I think we're continuing to do a very good job Danny is there a plan to move it out of the Hub eventually and get all the teams in their home market so that they can connect with the community better well this this was a launch strategy number one and number two it's far different than when I started and you flew into market and brought media guides to the local press right so you you can activate and engage with the fan constantly if you look at the NFL there's one day off a week during the season that's the only time there can be any engagement we engage constantly throughout the week so we'll continue to do that with all the different touch points that we have in the marketplaces our coaches have done an amazing job throughout the course of the Year candidly that's one of the reasons we brought our coaches in early T Buck has been here constantly our athletes have been here we're going to continue to do that and do that more as we move forward but right now we're very pleased with our centralized hobby because it gives the athlete the best opportunity to succeed both on and off the field that's what we see here last question Danny is your long-term Vision here to to see the Guardians kind of take their place along with the magic along with some of the the soccer teams and everything like that to keep us being one of the major power Brokers who doesn't say yes to them our long-term mission is that this team began becomes pivotal Paramount to Orlando you know the XFL has a very specific culture you know our our boys our coaches all of our team members every play matters that's what we talk about every moment matters so when they're out there everything is so meaningful it's so inspirational you see this passion that's a type of cultural team that you want to have in the city and that's what we represent and that's what I want so yes yes Danny Russ thank you thank you thanks for your flexibility