The third iteration of the XFL is coming in February and ESPN announced the complete 2023 schedule for their third first season as a league.
ESPN will broadcast all 43 games on at least one of their networks and stream each game on ESPN+. Seven games, including the XFL Championship Game, will be on ABC. ESPN and ESPN2 will have 22 games, while FX has 15 games.
The season opener takes place on Saturday, February 18, with the Vegas Vipers and the Arlington Renegades. Each week will consist of four games, with most games taking place mostly on Saturday or Sunday, along with the occasional midweek game on Thursday, Friday, or Monday night. The XFL playoffs start on April 29 with two semifinal games and then the Championship Game takes place two weeks later on May 13.
The new league, now owned by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale, is the third attempt to make this a success. The previous two versions of the XFL were owned by former WWE CEO Vince McMahon and each one folded before there was a second season. The 2001 edition folded after the end of the first season, while the 2020 edition folded after five weeks and the league filing bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eight XFL teams are playing this season, with three located in Texas (Arlington, Houston, and San Antonio) and five other teams in Las Vegas, Orlando, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington D.C.
[ESPN PR]
