Long Bomb: How the XFL Became TV's Biggest Fiasco
 

The XFL was going to be greater, bigger, better—more, more, more.

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NBC executives decided they weren’t going to lose any more millions paying the National Football League for broadcasting rights, but they still wanted in on the game. WWF boss Vince McMahon was at the peak of his cultural and financial power and eager to prove that he was more than a pro-wrestling promoter. 

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By combining football, reality TV, and WWF values, the XFL was supposed to reinvent the way America watched sports. Nothing went according to the plan. From the XFL’s conception to its championship game, Long Bomb goes inside the limousines and locker rooms and onto the field to illustrate TV’s greatest failure. 

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Praise for Long Bomb

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“Well-told tale of ego and excess run amok in big-time sports.” —Kirkus Reviews

 

“Forrest's behind-the-scenes book chronicles [the XFL's] downfall in sharp, often witty prose.” —Publishers Weekly

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“Long Bomb is an intriguing tale that reaches for beyond the football and the bombast.” —Chris Berman, ESPN

 

“A marvelous canter across one of media-land’s most misbegotten enterprises.” —Christopher Byron, author of The Fanciest Dive

 

“Forrest brilliantly shows us the connection between the network suits and the battered bodies cranked through the meat grinder.” —Peter Gent, author of North Dallas Forty