Sports Five things we learned from the XFL’s opening game: Trading gimmicks for innovation was wise February 8, 2020February 9, 2020 Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY Comments Off on Five things we learned from the XFL’s opening game: Trading gimmicks for innovation was wise Heading into their 2020 reboot, the XFL bet on innovation instead of gimmicks. After their season opener, the strategy proves to be working.