XFL digs a deeper ratings hole

Just when it appeared its ratings had bottomed out, the XFL hit another new low with its weekly Saturday night national game on NBC.

The game between the Las Vegas Outlaws and the Birmingham Thunderbolts was a ratings bust, drawing only 2.5 million takers and averaging a 1.0 rating, 3 share in Nielsen fast national numbers. The game marked the latest nadir for the new football league, which had been hovering around four million viewers for its NBC Saturday night game for the previous three weeks.

In an HBO Sports interview with Bob Costas last week, World Wrestling Federation honcho Vince McMahon said he was "hopeful" NBC would stick with the XFL, despite the flagging ratings.
- Richard Tedesco