A few months ago Vince McMahon announced that the XFL will be returning, and since then McMahon has been putting the pieces in place as he prepares to relaunch the league in 2020.
On Wednesday, a press conference was held at MetLife Stadium, and some big announcements were made regarding which cities will be hosting teams, and which stadiums they will be playing at.
New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy kicked off the press conference and confirmed that MetLife Stadium will be home to one of the XFL teams. He then introduced Vince McMahon.
Vince thanked the cities and venues who will be XFL partners moving forward. He said it’s been 20 years since the original XFL was announced, and a lot of things have changed since then.
McMahon said there is a long term financial commitment to the XFL, and that the game play will be innovative and exciting. He said kickoff will be on February 8, and 9 in 2020, the weekend after the Super Bowl.
Vince then introduced XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck.
Luck stressed that the XFL will be “football reimagined” with “less stall, more ball.” He said research indicates fans want more football, and they want to give it to them. The league is meant to complement fall football by giving fans football in the spring.
He said that their ideas for the league and their reimagined version of football are currently being tested.
Luck said each team will have the same budget for team salaries and they will be offering “very competitive” wages. He also said that the league will give fans a legal way to bet on games.
Oliver Luck claimed more than 30 cities expressed interest in hosting a team, but they narrowed it down to 8 cities that they feel they can have a true partnership with.
The cities and stadiums were then confirmed and they are as follows:
New York – MetLife Stadium
Dallas, Texas – Globe Life Park (Arlington, TX)
Houston, Texas – TDECU Stadium
Los Angeles, California – StubHub Center (Carson, CA)
St. Louis, Missouri – The Dome at America’s Center
Seattle, Washington – CenturyLink Field
Tampa Bay, Florida – Raymond James Stadium
Washington, DC – Audi Field
Oliver Luck said that fans can now go to XFL.com and put a deposit down to buy season tickets.
He said in the coming months players will be signed, and team names will be announced.
