The XFL’s Washington team will be called the DC Defenders. The league announced the names of its initial teams Wednesday.
- Dallas Renegades
- DC Defenders
- Houston Roughnecks
- Los Angeles Wildcats
- New York Guardians
- St. Louis BattleHawks
- Seattle Dragons
- Tampa Bay Vipers
Owned by WWE chairman Vince McMahon, this will be the XFL’s second run. The first run lasted just one year (2001) and was co-owned by WWE and NBC.
McMahon has vowed this run will be more successful. The XFL named Oliver Luck, former West Virginia AD and father of NFL QB Andrew Luck, as its CEO and Commissioner. The league plans not to rely on professional wrestling-inspired features and entertainment elements as its predecessor did.
The league has TV rights deals with ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports. The inaugural of the 2.0 version will start in February 2020.
Former Oklahoma and NFL backup QB Landry Jones is the first player to sign with the XFL.
The XFL is hoping to be a secondary alternative, and grab the attention of football purists when the NFL and college football seasons conclude. The league feels its taking the necessary steps to avoid the fate essentially every other secondary football league has fallen to.
Defenders, much like the other XFL team names sound very generic. Of course given the controversy over the Washington Redskins name, there will be some that will prefer Defenders over the NFL’s team.
The DC Defenders will play their home games at Audi Field, the home of MLS DC United, in Southwest Washington, DC.
The Defenders will play in the Eastern Conference along with the New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks, and Tampa Bay Vipers.
Despite the bland names the XFL picked, Defenders may be one of the best names in the league. It appears there was not much thinking to the names, however, Defenders is better than the Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, Seattle Dragons, the BattleHawks, and Vipers.
Dallas Renegades and New York Guardians are up there with DC Defenders. As football fans, let’s hope the actual product is more original, and entertaining than the team names.
