XFL Kicks Off Feb. 8 on ABC

XFL football action kicks off Feb. 8. ABC, Fox, FS1, ESPN and ESPN 2 are the partner networks. 

The fun starts on ABC Feb. 8, as the Seattle Dragons take on the DC Defenders at 2 p.m. ET. At 5 p.m. ET, it’s the L.A. Wildcats versus Houston Roughnecks on Fox. Sunday, Feb. 9 has the Tampa Bay Vipers against New York Guardians on Fox and St. Louis Battlehawks and Dallas Renegades facing off on ESPN.

Four games are scheduled each week, typically back to back on Saturdays and Sundays. The XFL schedule also features two primetime Thursday games in the final weeks of the season. That happens April 2 and April 9 on Fox.

On to Feb. 15, and it’s New York Guardians versus DC Defenders on ABC and Tampa Bay Vipers against Seattle Dragons on Fox. Feb. 16 sees the Dallas Renegades play the L.A. Wildcats on ABC and then the St. Louis Battlehawks against the Houston Roughnecks on FS1.

The regular season goes for ten weeks. Playoff games happen April 18 on Fox and April 19 on ABC, then the championship game is April 26 on ESPN.

Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment is behind the league. XFL lasted for one season in 2001. Commissioner Oliver Luck told the NY Times, “Aside from the name, there is nothing in common that we will have with the league in 2001.”

There are eight teams. XFL promises a “fast-paced game with fewer play stoppages.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.