In last weekend's television debut, the XFL scored a major rating coup providing NBC with its best Saturday night ratings in years, while the Sunday XFL broadcast on UPN topped ratings for the NHL All-Star game.  Attendance at the XFL contests averaged a robust 35,000 per venue, with many of the fans arriving attired in newly-purchased licensed XFL logowear and, from all appearances, the beer concession may yet prove to be the most profitable part of the entire venture.

Still, there is trouble in this Vince McMahon-created paradise, and there are questions still to be answered, namely:

Television ratings for the first broadcast declined throughout its three-hour length. Was this the result of a one-sided game in which the Las Vegas Outlaws pummeled the New York/New Jersey Hitmen, or was it caused by viewers that were intrigued by the hype but turned off by the actual XFL product?

Major market sportscasters and sports talk show hosts clearly loathe the new league.  Typical of their screeds was the New York Post's Phil Mushnick's comment that,  'For however long the XFL lasts, there's really only one scorecard worth keeping. It's the one that notes all the sell-outs who lent their names, careers, reputations and consciences to this predictably unmitigated garbage.'  Will this critical excoriation scare off football fans, and does the XFL even need to attract traditional football fans?

In spite of the XFL's undeniable ratings success, the stock price of the XFL parent corporation--the WWF--declined immediately after the league's boffo debut.  Was this the typical 'Buy on the rumor, sell on the news' pattern, or was it investors, having seen the product, deciding that it had no future?

For all the threats of outrageousness, the actual entertainment product was, well, boring.  Is this a calculated move to wait until advertisers are locked in before testing the limits, or the impact of XFL partner NBC making sure that no lines are crossed?

Clearly the jury is still out on the XFL and will be out for quite some time.  Week two ratings for the XFL are likely to decline naturally given the hype for the league's debut, but how far down will they go?