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XFL Conference Break Down, East Vs West, Potential Rivalries

The new XFL consists of eight cities. They are New York, Washington DC, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

The question posed to XFL Commissioner and CEO Oliver Luck at one of the XFL Summer Showcases this past month. What will the conference or division alignment look like?

Would it be broken down by North and South or East and West? Oliver Luck answered East and West. Even though technically St. Louis is not considered East.

Here is the break down of the XFL conferences;

EAST

XFL New York
XFL Washington DC
XFL Tamp Bay
XFL St Louis

WEST

XFL Seattle
XFL Los Angeles
XFL Dallas
XFL Houston

Based on this conference break down we potentially have an inner conference rivalry already. The easiest one is Dallas and Houston for the battle of Texas. Bob Stoops and the Hal Mumme lead offense vs. June Jones and his Run and Shoot style offense would be a high scoring fun games to watch.

The other could be New York and Washington DC. Between the cities battling in the NFL, NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball. There is a built-in history. The New York Giants and Washington Redskins have been rivals for years.

The XFL can have its own city rivalries as well. A new out of conference rivalry could be between XFL St Louis and XFL Los Angeles. XFL LA Head Coach/GM Winson Moss’s comments about XFL St Louis Head Coach/GM Johnathan Hayes during their playing days could spark a new rivalry between those two teams. We covered coach Moss’s comments in a previous article and video.

That leaves one more NFL cities rivalry. XFL Dallas vs. XFL Washington DC. The Dallas Cowboys vs. the Washington Redskins. These two cities hate each other in the NFL, and those football fans could carry that grudge over to the XFL.

Can you see any other potential rivals based on team alignment? Leave us a comment below.


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Mark Perry, a devoted sports journalist and founder of XFL News Hub, has been a key figure in XFL coverage since its 2018 revival. Launching XFL News Hub soon after the league's return announcement, Mark has established the platform as a primary source for comprehensive XFL updates. Renowned for his in-depth knowledge and commitment to sports journalism, Mark actively engages the XFL community, welcoming interactions at mark.perry@xflnewshub.com.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. RICHARD ALDERSON

    July 2, 2019 at 8:11 pm

    How about expansion talk already? Birmingham was considered again until the AAF snatched us up. We have always competed for titles and the support is a given. C’mon VINCE!

  2. C.P. McClennan

    July 3, 2019 at 8:31 am

    This is not how rivalries are made.

    The only example of a potential instant geographic rival would be Calgary-Edmonton which spans a long history of multiple leagues (NHL and CFL) and into politics. Even that didn’t work when the NLL put a lacrosse team in Edmonton.

    Houston and Dallas do not have that level of hatred for each other, yet. Sure, there’s 40-years of NBA history, but Houston has no NHL team, their respective NFL teams are in separate conferences, and their baseball teams have not been in the same division all that long. Washington-New York has the Giants-Redskins, but it doesn’t translate to the other leagues the same way as no one hypes Rangers-Capitals, Yankees-Nationals or Knicks-Wizards.

    If St. Louis and LA were to be an instant rival, then the Arizona Cardinals visiting the St. Louis Rams should have been a huge draw being the Cardinals left St. Louis earlier. When a team leaves a city, the hatred is usually for the ownership group, not the new city.

    I know football is all about hype, but rivalries need history and cannot be forced, geographic or otherwise.

    Much closer geography might make a difference. The previous incarnation of the XFL had LA versus Vegas; close enough to bring in the opposing cheerleaders for a game. It wasn’t given the chance, obviously, but that could have developed. Were this new XFL to expand to San Antonio (imagine the rivalry of a Texas three-way, especially with a short drive from SA to Houston), Vancouver (being the NHL is adding Seattle in two years, adding Van would be hitting an already hot iron to create a rivalry), or Orlando (Tampa-Orlando did well as Arena Football League rivals), those might develop faster.

  3. Dude

    July 3, 2019 at 4:05 pm

    Surprised Dallas and St.Louis weren’t switched.
    You get the NFL East flavor with Wash, NY, and Dallas. And St. Louis vs LA? (There has to be some animosity) St. Louis vs Seattle (though not a long rivalry at least had a little bit of one). It’s the first year, who cares if you don’t have teams in exact geographic locations.

    Expansion isn’t happening unless the XFL TV ratings are really good. San Fran, Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego would be ahead of most cities depending on labor laws, insurance, and stadium availability. Birmingham wouldn’t be my top 10 choice, unless you are going to go after SEC players. Chicago should be avoided at all costs, they have proven they have no interest in spring football.

  4. Jake

    July 3, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    Why do they have teams in cities that already have teams?! LA has two NFL teams has it is…move that la team to san diego… We’re starving for football. We had 20k at the San Diego fleet games

  5. WarHawk

    October 9, 2019 at 4:03 am

    What if St. Louis BattleHawks play for the Western Conference and Houston Roughnecks play for the Eastern Conference? True that two Texas cities are west from St. Louis but Houston is east from Dallas. It will make a great conference rival in the state of Texas. And as for St. Louis, they used to have the NFC West St. Louis Rams of the NFL till they departed for LA. The St. Louis Blues NHL team represent the Western Conference. And St. Louis was known for the Gateway Arch, the gateway to the “west.” However, the FFL (Freedom Football League) granted St. Louis their own football team called Independence that will represent the Eastern Conference (I’m not sure how long it will last for the summer league).

    For the record, there’s no confirmation yet on how the teams will be set in conferences. I went to the XFL website and still no update about it. We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, looking forward.

    I don’t care which team should be rivals against each other except maybe Dallas vs. Houston in conference combat.

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