Sports

XFL Teams: What You Need to Know About the 8 Squads Kicking Off in 2023

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While we all love Super Bowl Sunday, it’s also one of the saddest days of the year for football fans. That’s because it usually means seven months without professional football. That isn’t the case in 2023, though, as the new XFL kicks off on February 18, less than a week after the Big Game. To help all you football addicts seamlessly transition from one pro league to the next, here’s what you need to know about the new XFL teams.

The new XFL begins in 2023 

Many remember the XFL as the somewhat odd (but also fun) vanity project of WWE founder Vince McMahon from 2001. However, the league came back with the intent to be a minor league of sorts for the NFL and a legitimate spring football league in 2020.

Unfortunately, the timing was horrible as a global pandemic shut down the world, and the league folded, filing for bankruptcy.

However, another WWE legend stepped in to revive the league. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his business partner, Dany Garcia, stepped in and bought the league to start again in 2023.  

This time around, there will again be eight teams, with five —the DC Defenders, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis BattleHawks, Arlington Renegades, and Houston Roughnecks — returning from 2020. The New York, Los Angeles, and Tampa Bay franchises are being replaced by teams in San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Orlando.

Here is what to know about the new XFL teams

2023 XFL teams

XFL teams, XFL 2023, new XFL, XFL
XFL teams helmets: (Clockwise from top left) St. Louis BattleHawks, Seattle Sea Dragons, Houston Roughnecks, DC Defenders | Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images; Bob Levey/Getty Images; Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Arlington Renegades

Location: Arlington, Texas

Home stadium: Choctaw Stadium (former home of MLB’s Texas Rangers)

Head coach: Bob Stoops

Familiar names on the roster: Marquette King, Kyle Sloter, Will Hill

DC Defenders 

Location: Washington, D.C.

Home stadium: Audi Field (home of MLS’s D.C. United)

Head coach: Reggie Barlow

Familiar names on the roster: D’Eriq King, Ryquell Armstead, Eric Dungey

Houston Roughnecks 

Location: Houston, Texas

Home stadium: TDECU Stadium (on the campus of the University of Houston)

Head coach: Wade Phillips

Familiar names on the roster: Kaleb Eleby, Emmanuel Ellerbee

Orlando Guardians

Location: Orlando, Florida

Home stadium: Camping World Stadium (home of the Citrus Bowl and the Cheez-It Bowl)

Head coach: Terrell Buckley

Familiar names on the roster: Paxton Lynch, Matt Elam

San Antonio Brahmas

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Home stadium: Alamodome (former home of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs)

Head coach: Hines Ward

Familiar names on the roster: Kalen Ballage, Reid Sinnett, Brad Wing

Seattle Sea Dragons  

Location: Seattle, Washington

Home stadium: Lumen Field (home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks)

Head coach: Jim Haslett

Familiar names on the roster: Josh Gordon, Ben DiNucci

St. Louis BattleHawks           

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Home stadium: The Dome at America’s Center (former home of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams)

Head coach: Anthony Becht

Familiar names on the roster: A.J. McCarron, Austin Proehl

Vegas Vipers  

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Home stadium: Cashman Field (home of the USL’s Las Vegas Lights)

Head coach: Rod Woodson

Familiar names on the roster: Vic Beasley, Martavius Bryant, Brett Hundley

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Tim Crean
Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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Author photo
Tim Crean Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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