Today was a huge day for the XFL and the city of Houston. The Harris County Houston Sports Authority held a press conference earlier today to announce more details on the upcoming XFL training camps. We had heard that all eight teams would be traveling to Houston, but today it was made official.
The XFL’s upcoming training camp will take place January 4-22 and each franchise will have their own practice facility within Harris County.
- Dallas Renegades – Darrell Tully Stadium
- DC Defenders – Rice Stadium
- Houston Roughnecks – TDECU Stadium
- LA Wildcats – Alex Durley Stadium
- New York Guardians – Husky Stadium
- St. Louis BattleHawks – W.W. Thorne Stadium
- Seattle Dragons – Delmar Stadium
- Tampa Bay Vipers – George Turner Stadium
The event kicked off with Janis Burke, CE of the Harris County Sports Authority as she welcomed everyone. We then heard from Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, who was very excited to have the opportunity to show the world what Houston is made of. He went on to say that it’s things like this that show everyone that Houston is a “Sports City”.
Oliver Luck then took the stage to give the rundown of which teams would be using each facility. The amount of facilities in the area and weather had a big impact on the decision. Luck also mentioned that team jerseys, helmets and game ball should be released in the upcoming weeks.
Houston Roughnecks Team President, Brian Michael Cooper also took the stage to close out the show. He kept it very brief, but expressed his gratitude to the city and discussed the benefits for Harris County will see due to the training camps. Between all of the players, coaches, executives, etc. a lot of money will be spent in the community for housing as well as food. It’s a win-win for both the XFL and Harris County.
All in all, it was a great event by the XFL. It was packed full of media and it’s great to see Houston being put in the spotlight from the league. We’ll have footage from the event this Friday on ‘This Week in the XFL‘.
The XFL has since put out a press release on the training camps which you can see below:
XFL ROUNDS UP ALL EIGHT TEAMS FOR TRAINING CAMP IN HOUSTON
Stamford, Conn., Nov. 19, 2019 – Today, at a news conference led by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Janis Burke, CEO of the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority, XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck announced that Houston will host the league’s centralized preseason training camp for all eight of its teams.
XFL teams will practice and continue to get ready for the 2020 season at locations across Harris County from January 4-22. Nearly 1,000 players, coaches, staff, game officials and production teams from FOX Sports and ESPN, will descend on the city for nearly three weeks of training and operations.
The XFL has committed to more than 10,000 room nights for players and staff who plan to consume more than 60,000 meals during their time in Houston. According to the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority, the XFL training camps are expected to generate in excess of $7,000,000 of revenue for Harris County.
“Houston is a sports town,” said Houston Mayor Turner. “We have great fans and we support our teams. The XFL made the right call when it chose the city as the home of the Roughnecks, and now, I am even more excited that all eight XFL teams and nearly 1,000 representatives will come to the Houston area for their training camps in January 2020. I’m confident this will generate a great deal of fan excitement and interest in the new football league.”
“We’ve been involved since the initial proposal to the XFL and for me and my team to see it through and get to this point is incredible,” Burke said. “We’re thrilled to have all eight teams starting off here in Houston and equally as thrilled that the fans will get to share in the launch of this new league. They’re bringing a new exciting brand of football to a city that loves the game, and we’re proud that we were able to play a part in it.”
Starting January 4, XFL teams will practice at the following facilities:
“Everyone at the XFL is grateful to each of the area college and high school athletic directors who have helped make this a reality,” said Commissioner Luck. “We are excited to welcome our teams to Houston and benefit from these world-class facilities as we prepare for kick-off on February 8, 2020.”
