XFL Football Returns to Gridiron in 2022
Version two of the XFL was kicked off by wrestling mastermind Vince McMahan just weeks before the global COVID-19 Pandemic. Two hundred million dollars turned into a shuttered season and bankruptcy.
Now the XFL is coming back for a third time in 2022 thanks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners who acquired it for a cool fifteen million.
Johnson tweeted about it, a video was released, the current XFL president released a statement, and one city has confirmed talks for a return!
Watch the official XFL Returns 2022 video below:
Johnson’s tweet talked about hard work – which will certainly be needed to bring the XFL back.
“It’s an uphill battle,” Johnson tweeted, “but we’re hungry, humble and no one will outwork us.”
Aside from the PR tweet by Johnson and the video, there was actual news confirmed by one of the former XFL host cities that work was underway – even if it was on a very basic level.
The St. Louis Dispatch confirmed that the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC) was in talks with the XFL. The CVC manages the Dome at America’s Center where the St. Louis Battlehawks played their home games.
CVC president Kitty Ratcliffe told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that they had been in contact with the XFL about the return of the St. Louis XFL Battlehawks.
“We talked with them a couple of weeks ago,” Ratcliffe told the Post-Dispatch according to their reporting. “And they just reached out today to schedule another call. What they were doing with their (first) call is they were contacting each one of the previous venues just to let them know that the new ownership intends to restart in 2022.”
St. Louis averaged 28,000 fans per game, and led the league in merchandise sales, making them the most popular of XFL fanbases. St Louis was the former home of both the Cardinals and the Rams.
The Pandemic shuttered sports around the globe including the XFL. The league folded after roughly two-months of play consisting of five games for each of the ten XFL teams; St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Washington, D.C.
XFL president Jeffrey Pollack released an announcement indicating that they want to take the rest of 2020 and 2021 to ensure that everything is in place for a return that includes a solid business plan and plans for playing safely with COVID-19 including possible “bubble” play and hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine.
“For the love of football and for the safety of our players and fans, we’ll be back on the field in 2022. The opportunity in front of us, with our new ownership, is simply too big to rush back. We want to do this properly with care and thought for everyone who loves football, especially our players, coaches, partners, and fans.”
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