A new XFL American Football league has begun, and St. Louis is part of the action with the St. Louis Battlehawks.

The brand new league has eight teams and is a reboot of Vince McMahon’s 2001 attempt to launch an “eXtreme Football League.” That league ended after one season; however, the XFL is better than ever and is sure to stay afloat thanks to its supportive fans.

At first glance, the NFL and XFL seem to be the same thing, but there are different rules to distinguish the two. The XFL has unique rules in order to create a faster paced and safer game. The time allotted to start plays are 25 seconds instead of 40, and instead of stopping the clock every time the ball goes out of bounds, it only stops during the last two minutes of each half.

Cutting from three to two available timeouts a half and trimming down halftime’s length are some other ways the XFL makes the game quicker. In addition, if the defense creates a turnover and is able to return the ball to the other team’s end zone, the team receives the amount of points the offense was trying to score. Also, more kickoff returns are encouraged in order to prevent injuries from collisions. These are all of the main changes, but there are still several other unique details for the league.

This past Sunday, the Battlehawks opened play by taking on the Dallas Renegades. They came back in the fourth quarter to win 15-9. The team is starting the season off strong, and their fans are going crazy. There is already a Facebook fan page with hundreds of followers and St. Louis radio stations have been talking about the Battlehawks nonstop.

“I like rooting for local sports no matter what level and how they aren’t trying to be the NFL. They are having fun. Also, I wanted to be in on the ground floor. If I start rooting for the Chiefs that’s pretty bandwagon. With the Battlehawks I will be able to say that I was there right from the start no matter what all the way. And that’s fun for me, to start with the team no matter what. I hope it lasts,” Mr. Matt Winkelmann said.

Their next game is February 16 against the Houston Roughnecks in Houston. If you like football, you will love our St. Louis Battlehawks, so make sure to stay tuned to their season.

Sources:

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/enter-the-battlehawks/Content?oid=32917961

https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/stl-battlehawks-xfl/63-31c56448-9f8a-4e3e-ba4d-7d1bb7896e43

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/xfl-rules-differences-ahead-of-the-la-wildcats-debut/2306356/