With the NFL coming to an end, there is another football League coming to be. The XFL was first founded on February 3, 2001 and ran only for one season at the time. This league ended because it was not doing too well. Some years passed and McMahon decided to try to bring the XFL back in 2017. On January 25, 2018 Alpha Entertainment  announced a new incarnation of the XFL , which began with the first week of February.

There are 16 teams in the XFL. There are the St. Louis BattleHawks, Houston Roughnecks, seattle Dragons, New York Guardians, Dallas Renegades, DC Defenders, Los angeles, Tampa Bay Vipers, Los Angeles Xtreme, New Jersey Hitman, Las Vegas Outlaws, San Francisco Demons, Memphis Maniax, Orlando Rage, Chicago Enforcers, and the Birmingham Thunderbolts. 

There are many rules in XFL that are different then the NFL. One of the differences between these leagues is the kickoff. The kicker kicks from the 30-yard line and must kick the ball in the air and in play between the opponent’s 20-yard line and the end zone. The coverage team lines up on the return side 35-yard line and the return team lines up on the 30 yard line. Each team must have exactly 3 players outside the hash marks on both sides of the ball and cannot move until the ball is caught by the returner.

After a touchdown, the team has the option of running a play from the 2,5, or 10-yard line, worth 1,2, or 3 points respectively. The team must run an offensive play and no kicking plays are allowed. If the defense is able to cause a turnover and return the ball to the opponent’s end zone, the resulting score is equal to the number of points the offense was attempting to score on its PAT (field goal). 

The Punting team cannot release past the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked. If the ball goes out of bounds inside the 35-yard line, it’s a “major” touchback and the ball goes on the 35-yard line. They can call a fair catch if needed if the return team does not want to run the ball. The XFL also has a double-forward pass rule. If a team completes a forward pass behind the line of scrimmage, that team may throw a second forward pass, as long as the ball has at no time crossed the line of scrimmage. Once the ball has passed the line of scrimmage, no forward passes are permitted.

XFL will keep growing as a football league and we will become more known to watch the NFL. The XFL has over 80,000 fans already  and it keeps growing. Hopefully the XFL will be bigger and better in the future.