Original XFL Teams Not Expected to Return

With the XFL officially returning, Vince McMahon wants a fresh start for his professional football league. That means none of the original teams from the league’s 2001 season will be back.

Those teams included the Orlando Rage, the Chicago Enforcers, the New York/New Jersey Hitmen, the Birmingham Thunderbolts, the San Francisco Demons, Memphis Maniax, the Las Vegas Outlaws and the Los Angeles Xtreme.

The Xtreme won the league’s lone championship, titled the “Million Dollar Game” by defeating San Francisco 38-6 back on April 21, 2001.

The original XFL was co-owned by the WWE and NBC with a 50-50 split. McMahon said during his announcement press conference on Thursday that he will be the sole funding source this time around, using the $100 million of WWE stoc he sold to fund his new company, Alpha Entertainment.

“I wanted to do this since the day we stopped the other one,” McMahon said in an ESPN interview. “A chance to do it with no partners, strictly funded by me, which would allow me to look in the mirror and say, ‘You were the one who screwed this up,’ or ‘You made this thing a success.’”

McMahon said “every city is on our radar” when it comes to where he’ll want the eight teams to be based out of.

Teams will not be formed until 2019, with 2020 being the league’s first year. The league will consist of 10 weeks of regular season games and two weeks of playoff games.

“The new XFL is an exciting opportunity to reimagine America’s favorite sport,” McMahon said. “As we move towards kickoff, we look forward to listening and implementing innovative ideas from players, coaches, medical experts, technology executives, the media and most importantly football fans.”

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