As you may know by this point that the XFL will try again and start up in 2020. Now that the announcement is here, Vince McMahon needs to work quickly to working out all the logistics. First and foremost, where will teams play? There are lots of opportunities as there are tons of cities without a professional football team there. That’s where McMahon should target for his league. But where are they you may ask? Well, considering there are eight teams that will be the first to play when the new incarnation of the league begins, places that the NFL abandoned would be great options. I have come up with eight best places the XFL should land their new brand and hope it can become something big.
St. Louis
While I never thought the city could ever hold an NFL franchise (as evidenced by two teams moving out) as it’s mostly baseball and hockey crazed, I think it could work. However, there are still football fans there and putting an XFL team there will be perfect and it will likely thrive.
San Diego
For the citizens of the city, they still feel slighted about the Chargers moving to Los Angeles without supposedly getting any support from the team to get a new stadium. Football is big in the city and lots the citizens would probably feel great finally sticking it to Dean Spanos and the Chargers.
Columbus
With the possibility of losing the Major League Soccer franchise Columbus Crew, the city will probably want another professional franchise. The state loves football and a city like Columbus would be a perfect spot for an XFL team.
San Antonio
A city that deserves an NFL team and in a state that is football crazed year round (and that isn’t even a joke), San Antonio is a perfect spot for an XFL team. It could thrive there and also could help make XFL look really good if they put a team there.
Orlando
The city is big enough to support football and it would also be around Disney World which would help draw a lot of fans. If they made the fan experience family friendly, they could really strike gold here.
Memphis
Now this is a place that I feel like the XFL could do well in, but the city really hasn’t proven that it could hold a football team. However, it also hasn’t proven that it can’t either. This would be more of an experiment, but Tennessee likes it’s football and Memphis is a big enough city in my opinion where it could hold a team.
Salt Lake City
Why hasn’t anyone given this city a chance? Salt Lake City is a big enough city to hold a couple of major professional teams (as evidenced with MLS and NBA being there). Football might be a perfect opportunity to make the city even more attractive.
Birmingham
Nabbing the eighth and final spot is Birmingham. This I could see working out really well as football is a religion in Alabama especially with the Alabama-Auburn college football rivalry being as big as it is there. XFL might thrive in this city because of how football is seen there. Especially when the college football season ends, people might want to see some more football.
Missing the cut:
Oklahoma City
Portland
Norfolk
Hartford
Sacramento
Louisville
These cities are also deserving, but would have to wait until the next round of expansion because if the XFL wants to continue to thrive, they have to expand the product. And these places absolutely need to have teams for the next wave expansion anyways.
Rowe Sports Talk Network 