The XFL is back.
How many of you care?
I’m curious.
I know some of you do. I know because every so often since the second version of the XFL shuttered — version 2.0 was the first to plant a flag in St. Louis — I would get asked if I knew anything about the plans for a return. Now we know. St. Louis is one of the eight cities included in the soon-to-launch XFL 3.0.
Ka-Kaw! Or is it more like, ZZZ? I'll be honest: I have some reservations this time around.
— These BattleHawks — if the team is indeed called the BattleHawks — will play home games at The Dome at America's Center, but that's about it. Most of the league's non-game activities will be based in an Arlington, Texas, hub. "Home" games at The Dome will require two teams flying in and then out. The approach could make it harder for a bond to grow.
One of the really smart things the BattleHawks did in 2020 was build a strong relationship with the community. The thing had a grassroots vibe. It's harder to accomplish that without much time spent in town. This version of the league clearly is built around capturing the eyes of Texas. Three of its eight teams are in the Lone Star State.
Will St. Louis feel overlooked?
— This edition of the XFL is awfully cozy with the NFL. This isn’t the XFL professional wrestling kingpin Vince McMahon launched not once but twice — the first as a wrestling spinoff and the second as a legitimate spring football league — in order to attempt to produce an NFL alternative and competitor. This is the XFL professional wrestling kingpin turned movie star Dwayne Johnson bought off the scrap heap during the pandemic in order to, it seems, closely align with the NFL.
The XFL has been crowing about its partnership with the NFL on everything from innovations in rule changes to technology and equipment used during games. There is a health and safety collaboration and a partnership with the NFL alumni academy.
Johnson keeps repeating a line about player No. 54. He says he wants the XFL to be the home for the last guy cut from an NFL 53-man roster, and he wants the XFL to help those players make it to the NFL.
What could be smart for the XFL’s overall staying power might be a turn-off around here. A big part of the XFL appeal in St. Louis the first time around was that it was independent of the NFL, which had helped Rams owner Stan Kroenke throw the league’s relocation guidelines in a shredder while soiling the city’s sports reputation during a rigged relocation process that successfully planted the Rams back in Los Angeles.
Some people who became legitimate BattleHawks fans — as much as one could become a legitimate fan of a team that played just five games — started as Kroenke haters first. Many were hungry to prove the NFL’s lies wrong. Many thought the rest of the country might care.
Times change.
The Rams now have played six seasons in Los Angeles. Kroenke got his stadium and his Super Bowl victory. St. Louis got its relocation settlement, and the only fight left on that front is how to spend the money. Major League Soccer launches here next year. Point is, a target market that was ripe the first time around could be harder to hit now.
— Kurt Hunzeker is not involved. That’s a mistake. Johnson and XFL co-owner Dany Garcia should have had the former BattleHawks official in charge of forging relationships between each city and their teams. Hunzeker was a big part of the reason why so many of those Kroenke haters became legitimate BattleHawks lovers in 2020 and why the BattleHawks crushed their peers in everything from tickets sold to social media mentions, sponsorships and merchandise sales.
One of the biggest bummers of the pandemic shuttering that 2020 season was that it happened before Hunzeker got his chance to host his third home game at The Dome. The place was going to be rocking. Hunzeker is back to baseball now, working for MLB as a vice president for minor-league business operations. This edition of the XFL will feel emptier without him.
— There has been no mention of a team name. It would be a big mistake to not stick with what was working for the BattleHawks. People bought gear. The goofy nickname and mascot worked.
My advice? Don't mess with a good thing. Revive the B-Hawks. That would be a very good start now that the news of the return is official.
Kickoff comes in February. Newly announced head coach Anthony Becht is a high-energy guy who spent the 2008 season playing tight end for the St. Louis Rams. He's fired up.
St. Louis never has stopped loving football, but this version will need to create new momentum and clear higher hurdles.
