Discussions Begin On XFL’s BattleHawks Returning To St. Louis

We have been slowly getting information on the XFL re-launch coming in 2022. We first found out who the new owners are, then they announced the official launch date of spring 2022.

There is still a lot of items to cross off the list before football is back on the field, but word out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch is that there have been conversations between the XFL and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission to discuss using The Dome again.

According to the CVC president Kitty Ratcliffe,

“We talked with them a couple weeks ago, and they just reached out today to schedule another call.” She went on to say “What they were doing with their first call is they were contacting each one of the previous venues just to let them know that the new ownership intends to restart in 2022.” “It’s good to know. It was a very positive experience for St. Louis. So I hope that they do bring it back.”

In looking at her comments a little deeper, it is not just in St. Louis that these conversations have occurred. Fans may have assumed that the teams, venues and everything else would stay the same, but nothing was or is guaranteed. There may be other issues that come up with the venues, but the XFL checking in with the previous venues is an encouraging sign.

Ratcliffe went on to say,

“I think it was clear to everybody that we were, if not the top, we were one of the top two cities that preformed for the XFL, and they had a great experience in The Dome. So I think their initial calls were simply to touch base with all the venues and see if there was going to be any resistance to future conversations or not. And we indicated to them that we’d be happy to have future conversations. That was really the extent of it. So not much to report. We’re still in a bankruptcy hearing as are all the other XFL venues with that company”

Her comments make it perfectly clear that this was not a definitive statement that the BattleHawks will be kicking off in The Dome in 2022, but this is proof that this ownership group is quietly working behind the scenes to start putting the pieces in place for kickoff in 2022.

If they are going to play in The Dome, a new lease will need to be negotiated since Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners have taken over from Vince McMahon. The previous lease was for $100,000 a game.

Ratcliffe wrapped up her comments by saying,

“I can’t speak for the community, but I can speak for our CVC team, I know our team would love to see the BattleHawks back and I think that the community would also. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed that something positive can move forward. You know, they have to restart a whole league. It’s not about one city or one venue. It’s about making a business plan for an entire league work. So I think that probably will take them a bit of time.”

Ratcliffe made an excellent point in her last comment. The XFL 2020 was doing well and proof that spring football can absolutely work. Once the XFL was shut down and bankruptcy was declared, the new ownership group has to evaluate and plan to ensure this league is successful for the long haul. It’s further proof that while a 2021 kickoff would have been great for us rabid XFL fans, it’s just not practical with how much work needs to be done.

This is very good news for the league and even better for the BattleHawks fans. Having a group in place that saw and had first-hand experience with how successful that team was, makes it much more attractive for the CVC to work with the XFL to try and get them back in The Dome.

It also makes a lot of practical sense trying to keep them in The Dome if the league intends to start in February as it did this year. The Midwest is a beautiful place, but it can be brutally cold during that time, so keeping them in a climate-controlled venue makes a lot of sense.

It is still very early in the process, but the new ownership group contacting the previous venues is an encouraging step and another item off the checklist before kickoff in 2022.

Here’s hoping that Kaw will still be the law at The Dome in 2022.