The Dome at America’s Center will continue to serve has the home stadium for St. Louis’s XFL team when the league resumes play in 2023. (Photo courtesy: Dome at America’s Center)
Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — As the XFL plots its return in 2023 under new ownership, changes are afoot in the upstart professional spring football league. The league’s return, which comes after its short-lived 2020 season, includes new branding, teams and coaches.
But as the XFL comes back to St. Louis, one component won’t change: Its rent at The Dome at America Center, where its St. Louis team will play its home games.
Like with its 2020 season, the XFL will pay $100,000 per game for its St. Louis franchise to play five regular season home games at The Dome at America’s Center, according to a license agreement the startup professional football league has with Explore St. Louis, the city’s convention and visitor’s commission, which operates The Dome.
The license agreement between the XFL and Explore St. Louis covers three seasons and runs through August 2025.
In an email, Explore St. Louis Chief Marketing Officer Brian Hall said the deal with the new XFL ownership is “consistent with the terms of the prior agreement which were competitive and fair to both parties in 2020 and remain so in 2023.”
The XFL’s agreement with Explore St. Louis comes as it prepares to relaunch in February 2023, with next year’s reboot marking the third iteration of the XFL. The brainchild of former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, the XFL debuted in 2000 for only one season and was later resurrected again by McMahon for its second season in 2020.
The XFL’s current ownership includes businesswoman Dany Garcia, actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners. In August 2020, they acquired the assets of the XFL’s parent company, Alpha Entertainment LLC.
The purchase came after the XFL in April 2020 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, shortly after it paused its 2020 season amid the Covid-19 pandemic. On July 24, the XFL’s new ownership unveiled the eight cities that will field team in next year’s relaunch.