Back in February of 2018 we reported that Dean Blandino would be assisting the XFL with their officiating. Earlier today the league sent out details for a conference call this Tuesday to discuss the rule-set with Commissioner Oliver Luck, as well as Dean Blandino. In the details, it names Blandino as ‘Head of Officiating’.
We’ve known that Blandino was working with the XFL, but now we know in what capacity. As we reported earlier, the XFL will be revealing their official rule-set early Tuesday morning.
Blandino is also an NFL rules analyst for Fox Sports, so there shouldn’t be any conflict with him working with the XFL during the NFL’s off season. Especially when you factor in the fact that Fox is one of the XFL’s broadcast partners. When FOX announced their broadcast booth, Blandino was not named. This does open up the opportunity to see him during the broadcasts explaining the calls, similar to what he’s done in the past for the NFL games on FOX.
Overall, this is a great pickup for the league. There are some fans that are sour on him from the XFL, but in all reality I think this is the best possible person to assist the XFL with their officiating. We’ll be joining the conference call this Tuesday, so stay tuned to XFLNewsroom.com for all the latest details.
