Vince McMahon announced Thursday that the XFL would return in 2020. The XFL originally premiered in 2001, just one year after McMahon’s initial announcement of the league. The inaugural season was widely panned as a failure due to its heavy reliance on gimmicks and lack of quality play. The league was dissolved after only one season. In McMahon’s announcement today, he promised that the gimmicks of yesteryear would not mar the football league of tomorrow. He vowed that the new XFL would be politics-free and deny entry to players with criminal records. (Sorry, Johnny Manziel.)
The future of football kicks off in 2020. Follow @XFL2020 for more. https://t.co/RZHaGaVvnj
— Alpha Entertainment (@alphaentllc) January 25, 2018
Eight new teams will be announced in 2019, and all teams will remain under McMahon’s ownership. With the possibility of eight new football franchises in the country’s future, here are 10 possible cities for XFL teams in 2020.
Ten Possible Cities for XFL Teams in 2020
10. Las Vegas, NV
The original XFL had a team in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Outlaws appeared in the very first XFL game against the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. They played at Sam Boyd Stadium, the current venue for the UNLV Rebel football program. The Outlaws went 4-6 in the inaugural season and finished fourth in the Western Conference.
Bringing an XFL team back to Vegas makes a marginal amount of sense. The Oakland Raiders will become the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, so the desert city would become a football mecca almost overnight. Vegas recently added a hockey team, the Golden Knights, to their list of attractions and wouldn’t balk at having a use for the Raiders $1.9 billion stadium during the off-season.
9. San Diego, CA
San Diego is hungry for football. When the Los Angeles Chargers left San Diego for greener pastures, fans came out in droves to express their disappointment with the decision. An XFL team in San Diego appeals to an entire fanbase that spent season after season rooting for a franchise that was ripped out from under them.
The added benefit of putting a team in San Diego is the appeal for personnel. Southern California has a wealth of universities pumping out college football players. While the stars will obviously go on to the NFL, there will be plenty of players looking to continue their football careers. Who better to scoop up young athletes from UCLA, San Diego State, and USC than a San Diego XFL team?
8. Columbus, OH
In that same thread, Columbus would be poised to recruit players from one of the top football factories in the country. Ohio State Buckeyes who failed to catch the eyes of NFL teams wouldn’t even have to change their zipcodes to join a Columbus-based XFL franchise.
Columbus is halfway between Cleveland and Cincinnati. The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals had a combined record of 7-25 in 2017. Do you think folks in central Ohio are clamoring to hop on those wagons?
7. St. Louis, MO
This is another city that had its football team torn away. The Los Angeles Rams abandoned their St. Louis home and flew away to sign up for a timeshare with the Chargers. St. Louis has a Super Bowl win its pocket but no team anymore. The Dome at America’s Center, formerly known as the Edward Jones Dome, still stands, so the matter of a temporary home isn’t as big of an issue. Bringing football back to St. Louis also gives Missouri fans a hometown professional football team to root for, rather than splitting their loyalties between the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans.
6. Birmingham, AL
Alabama does not have a single professional sports team. Most football fans in Alabama instead pour their heart and soul into watching the Crimson Tide dominate NCAA gridirons year after year. Here’s an opportunity to capitalize on a rabid fanbase, greedy for more national titles.
Birmingham is also no stranger to the XFL. The Birmingham Thunderbolts were the worst team in the XFL’s initial go-round, finishing 2-8. A revived franchise could bring professional pride back to ‘Bama, particularly if some underrated star power from the Crimson Tide finds its way onto XFL rosters.
5. Chicago, IL
The Chicago Bears have the potential to rise again in the Mitchell Trubisky era and could again be a playoff team by 2020. However, a market that big has room for another professional football franchise. The XFL’s original Illinois team, the Chicago Enforcers, made the playoffs in their first and only season. The Enforcers shared Soldier Field with the Bears already, so there’s already a precedent for co-existing football franchises. Would one of the most storied fanbases in the NFL say no to watching football year-round?
4. New York, NY
What? Four football teams in New York is too many? Nonsense. The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were one of the most popular XFL teams in the country. The Hitmen had an average attendance of 28,309 people per game at Giants Stadium in 2001, the second most of any franchise. It would be a mistake to leave New York out of the conversation given the enormous sports market thriving in the Tri-State Area.
3. Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City. Smack dab in the heart of Oklahoma. What else is there to do in Oklahoma except watch sports? The Oklahoma City Thunder is a solid start, but an XFL team would take OKC to the next level as a sports city. There are approximately 1.3 million people in the OKC metropolitan area. The team could be a second chance for players from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, both of which have enjoyed moderate success in recent years. Plus, the city is far enough from both Kansas City and Dallas to draw interest from fans looking for alternatives to the Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.
2. Portland, OR
Portland has been a go-to in the NFL expansion discussion for years. An XFL team in Portland would fill in the fanbase vacuum between Seattle and San Francisco, preying on a sports-starved market. Roughly 2.4 million people live in the Portland metropolitan area. Adding a professional football team helps round out the Portland Trailblazers and Portland Timbers and brings the city one step closer to becoming a sports hub in the northwest.
1. San Antonio, TX
There is no reason to prevent the XFL from coming to San Antonio. Almost 2.5 million people live in the metropolitan area, and the city is constantly growing. San Antonians have already proved themselves to be one of the greatest fanbases in professional sports. Whisper “go Spurs go” anywhere near south-central Texas, and you’ll make yourself some friends for life. Football fans in San Antonio have to divide their loyalties between the Cowboys, the Houston Texans, or choosing another team that gets no local coverage on Sunday afternoon. Imagine tens of thousands of screaming fans packed into the Alamodome on gameday. That sound you hear is the XFL raking in revenue.
Honorable Mentions:
Boston, MA: Boston fans are intensely loyal to their sports teams. It would be hard to overlook possibly the best sports city in the country, but space could prove to be an issue.
Orlando, FL: The former home of the XFL’s Orlando Rage and one of the only major cities in Florida without a professional football team. It’s proximity to Tampa could be positive or negative depending on the future of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Salt Lake City, UT: The brilliantly clean city with massive potential could use a companion team to the Utah Jazz.
