The Player: Bob Riordan crosses over to play ball on buying side; Former XFL salesman now at Havas' MPG.

Advertising Age, May, 2002 by Goetzl, David

There was no Monday-morning quarterbacking Bob Riordan on Feb. 5, 2001. That glorious Monday, his decision to become VP-sales at the XFL looked as pretty as a perfect spiral: Two days earlier, the Gen Y football league posted an impressive 10.3 rating for its prime-time opener on NBC.

``People were calling and congratulating me,'' Mr. Riordan said. ``I said, `Congratulate me after week four.'''

In retrospect, his reticence proved prescient. The league, a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and General Electric Co.'s NBC, saw its ratings plummet in successive weeks. ``We were shocked by the success of the initial ratings number, but we were equally as shocked by the declining ratings in weeks two,...

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