XFL set to return following NFL’s Super Bowl LVII in February

We have now learned that the XFL will resume operations in February — just a week after the NFL’s Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona.

Previously owned by WWE executive Vince McMahon, the alternative pro football league picked a bad time to begin its second iteration. As the COVID-19 pandemic shook the country, the league suspended operations after just five games of its 2020 season had been played. The original XFL played one season in 2001.

Purchased out of bankruptcy by Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and RedBird Capital, the league has now announced that it will field eight league-owned teams in its 2023 season — three of them located in Texas. The St. Louis Battlehawks are among the teams that will return. Head coaches for all of these teams have also been named.

• Arlington (Texas) Renegades (Bob Stoops)
• D.C. Defenders (Reggie Barlow)
• Houston Roughnecks (Wade Phillips)
• Orlando Guardians (Terrell Buckley)
• San Antonio Brahmas (Hines Ward)
• Seattle Sea Dragons (Jim Haslett)
• St. Louis Battlehawks (Anthony Becht)
• Vegas Vipers (Rod Woodson)

Former Buffalo Bills executive Russ Brandon is serving as the league’s president, while the football operations staff is led by former New York Giants executive Marc Ross and former Bills general manager Doug Whaley. Former NFL officiating executive Dean Blandino is in charge of the league’s referees.

The league will conduct a draft November 16-17 at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada. The league’s games will all be carried on ESPN channels.