When the XFL kicked off in 2020 there was one team that had a fan advantage going into the season; the St. Louis BattleHawks. St. Louis was the only XFL city that didn’t also host an NFL franchise. The St. Louis fans showed the league they wanted football, ultimately leading the XFL in attendance.
In fact, the BattleHawks were on pace to have over 50,000 fans in attendance for its week 7 matchup against the Los Angeles Wildcats. Unfortunately, COVID shut the world down and forced the XFL to cancel their inaugural season.
The XFL now has a new ownership group and are working towards a Feb 18, 2023 return. Naturally, many expect that St. Louis should be in the mix when the league hits the field again.
We’ve even heard rumors from former BattleHawks guard Bruno Regan stating that the franchise will be back in St. Louis. Well, it seems we may have some more news on that front.
Stemming from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson talking about his role in the new XFL during Monday Night Football, Martin Kilcoyne (Sports Director FOX 2 St. Louis) wrote that the league has reached out to officials at The Dome.
Officials at The Dome @AmericasCenter have been contacted by @XFL2023 Makes sense #XFL would contact St. Louis after success of @XFLBattleHawks , but there is no agreement in place. https://t.co/9Fb6jMPPCM
— Martin Kilcoyne (@martinkilcoyne2) January 18, 2022
Kilcoyne clarifies that a agreement is still not in place, but it shows that the XFL is actively trying to get back in to certain markets.
Wrapping up 2021 Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson joined CNBC where he shed some details on when we may learn more about the XFL’s return. In which he mentioned that new team names/cities and broadcast partners should be revealed early in 2022.
Then, he re-affirmed that when he joined Eli & Peyton Manning during Monday Night Football where he mentioned that news should be coming in the next 2-3 weeks.
Although we don’t know the full plans for the XFL return timeline, it does at minimum seem that they’re interested in staying in St. Louis.
We’ll keep you posted as more information comes out in regards to the 2023 return of the XFL, so stay tuned for more.
What other cities would you like to see the XFL keep in 2023? Where would you like to see them relocate? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
