It appears that the resurrection of the XFL is coming in February 2020 as XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck announced the cities planned for the new league. Only two cities (New York and Los Angeles) will return from the previous edition of the XFL which played in 2001.
The new cities and stadiums will be:
- Dallas (Globe Life Park)
- Houston (TDECU Stadium)
- Los Angeles (StubHub Center)
- New York (MetLife Stadium)
- St. Louis (The Dome at America’s Center)
- Seattle (CenturyLink Field)
- Tampa Bay (Raymond James Stadium)
- Washington, DC (Audi Field)
The new XFL plans to be more fan-friendly with fast-paced games, family-friendly environment as well as several ways to view games.
The league will play a 10-game schedule with two semifinal playoff games and a championship game.
Another league, the Alliance of American Football (AAF) kicks off in February 2019 so it will be interesting to see which league will survive. At this time, neither league has teams in both leagues.
The previous version of the league consisted of Orlando Rage, New York-New Jersey Hitmen, Chicago Enforcers, Los Angeles Extreme, Las Vegas Outlaws, Memphis Maniax, Birmingham Thunderbolts and San Francisco Demons. As with the original league, Vin McMahon will also be involved in the XFL reboot but is promoting a “kinder and gentler” league when it takes the field in 2020.
Suggested nicknames for the new teams include:
- Dallas – Wranglers, Outlaws, Desperados
- Houston – Outlaws, Roughriders, Stallions
- Los Angeles – Extreme, Stars, Condors
- New York – Hitmen, Heroes
- St. Louis – Steamers, Stallions
- Seattle – Enforcers, Kraken
- Tampa Bay – Krewe, Thunderbolts, Tritons, Bandits
- Washington – Warriors, Stars
Philadelphia has registered a domain for an XFL team and may be a future location if the league succeeds and looks to expand.
Johnny Maziel who failed with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) and recently played with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) tops the list of players who might be interested in playing for the Dallas XFL franchise.
So will the XFL work? I think it CAN work but only if it can survive the competition with the AAF which will already have a head start on them. I think both leagues can co-exist as long as they establish themselves and don’t put franchises in cities with other leagues. I still think that outdoor football in the winter/spring is a hard sell but still should appeal to football fans more than arena football.