XFL co-owner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced team names for the football league's upcoming 2023 season Monday.
The league is set to include three direct carryovers from the 2020 season—the D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks and St. Louis Battlehawks—along with a slight name change for the Seattle Dragons, who've added Sea to their name.
Elsewhere, the Guardians have moved from New York to Orlando, the Vipers have relocated to Las Vegas from Tampa Bay and the Renegades made a small switch from Dallas to Arlington.
The one completely new franchise is the San Antonio Brahmas, who replace the Los Angeles Wildcats.
Here's a look at the team logos:
The XFL completed half of its 2020 regular-season schedule before the remainder of the campaign was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August 2020, five months after the league shut down, a group that included Johnson, business partner Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners purchased the XFL out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for $15 million.
The league was owned by former WWE chairman Vince McMahon during both its 2001 and 2020 iterations.
In May, the XFL announced its 2023 season would kick off Feb. 18, six days after the NFL's Super Bowl, with all games being broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
Johnson attended the league's HBCU showcase at Jackson State in July, saying the XFL is searching for potential hidden gems that may not attract immediate attention from NFL teams.
"Looking at places that are generally overlooked and even the ones that are looked at, for example, like a Jackson State when scouts come here, and they look, and they see, and they evaluate the players," Johnson told reporters. "Well, now we come along, and we want to evaluate the players, but maybe there is an opportunity here. Let's explore, let's dig deeper."
While none of the spring football leagues over the years has emerged as a true alternative to the NFL, leagues like the XFL can be a terrific proving ground for players on the fringe.
Dozens of players who took part in the abbreviated 2020 XFL season went on to sign contracts in the NFL or CFL after the league shut down.
XFL President Russ Brandon previously said the league was aiming for a mid-November draft, though an official date still hasn't been announced in wake of the team name reveals.
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