The XFL will field teams in the Dallas metro area, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington when it returns in 2023.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, the league’s new co-owners, announced the lineup of cities and venues Sunday night in Texas, where three of the eight teams will call home.
Five of the venues from the 2020 iteration of the league will return to host teams. Las Vegas, Orlando and San Antonio are the new markets, with the league not returning to Los Angeles, New York or Tampa Bay.
The league did not announce a venue for the Las Vegas team, but the Orlando team will play at Camping World Stadium, the site of several college bowl games, and San Antonio’s team will play in the famed Alamodome.
Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the former home of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, will host a team again after being home to the Dallas Renegades in the 2020 iteration of the league. TDECU Stadium in Houston returns after serving as the home of the Houston Roughnecks in 2020.
The Seattle Seahawks’ Lumen Field hosted the Seattle Dragons in 2020 and will return as a venue in 2023. Audi Field, home of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United and the venue for the D.C. Defenders, is also back, along with The Dome in St. Louis (formerly Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams and the XFL’s BattleHawks).
It is unknown if the league, formerly owned by WWE mogul Vince McMahon, will retain the previous team branding for Dallas, Houston, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington.
Eight head coaches had been previously announced, and on Sunday it was revealed which teams they would coach.
Longtime Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops will take over the team in Arlington. Wade Phillips, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys and defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, will lead the team in Houston.
Former NFL cornerbacks Rod Woodson and Terrell Buckley will coach the teams in Las Vegas and Orlando, respectively. Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Hines Ward will coach San Antonio.
Former New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett will lead Seattle, former New York Jets tight end Anthony Becht has the job in St. Louis and former Alabama State and Virginia State coach Reggie Barlow will coach in Washington.
–Field Level Media