Vegas Vipers: XFL Names New Las Vegas Franchise
Anyone who knows Las Vegas knows we are thirsty for football here. We’ve got the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders now as well as the Vegas Knight Hawks indoor football team kicking off in late March. Not to mention a professional flag football team coming. But you’ll never forget your first.
Yes, the XFL is returning to the world for a third time in 2023 and Las Vegas finds itself as one of the eight cities sporting a franchise. That franchise now has a name: Vegas Vipers. We gotta be honest, we kind of love it. Surprised it wasn’t taken!
The history of the XFL in Vegas
You may remember “way back” in 2000 the first iteration of the XFL, headed by then WWF CEO Vince McMahon, played out of Sam Boyd Stadium as the Las Vegas Outlaws. The league’s most notable player, “He Hate Me”, played for the team. His name was Rod Smart and he went on to play in the NFL for, among other teams, the Raiders!
The original XFL lived and died in 2000 and wasn’t a great product. It was revived in 2020 and the product was pretty decent! Some decent players putting on the pads, some boring NFL rules were thrown out and replaced with a new way of playing the game. It was honestly decent! Then the pandemic hit, cutting season short and putting the league into bankruptcy.
Do you smell what The Rock is buying?
Just when you thought the league was on the outs once and for all, enter Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia and a private equity firm. They plunked down $15,000,000 to take over the league and hope that the third time is a charm.
Now the league’s teams have names, and while the Vegas Vipers don’t have an officially announced venue yet, ticket prices are expected to be reasonable. The team will be coached by Raiders legend Rod Woodson and might be our best shot at a football title in the valley! So… get your fangs out! Let’s go Vipers!
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