XFL Seattle Sea Dragons vs. Battlehawks

Thanks, Dwayne 🐉

By Nathalie Graham | Published February 16, 2023

A photo of a Sea Dragon player against a cloudy, blue sky

FEBRUARY 23

📸: Courtesy XFL | Seattle Sea Dragons

Thursday, February 23rd • 6 pm

After multiple unsuccessful attempts at making the “Xtreme Football League,” an alternative to the NFL, the XFL is back for another season. The Seattle team, the Sea Dragons, will play their home opener against the St. Louis Battlehawks on February 23rd at Lumen Field.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the XFL. As potentially the most cursed sports league, the XFL has never survived a year without turmoil. Yet, it can’t be killed. In its first iteration in 2001, the XFL was imagined by World Wrestling Entertainment founder Vince McMahon as a raunchier, more extreme, more brutal football. Instead of a punt return, games would start with both teams scrambling for the ball. It didn’t make it past 2001. Maybe America wasn’t ready for the XFL, or maybe it just had bad timing. (Its original season was in the months before 9/11.)

That bad timing continued in February 2020 when the XFL relaunched after a 19-year absence, slightly tamer and more family-friendly, yet still faster-paced than typical football. The league only played about half of its games before the COVID-19 pandemic really hit the US. And now, three years later, the XFL is back for round three. In its absence, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bought the XFL out of bankruptcy, and the Seattle XFL team rebranded from the Dragons to the Sea Dragons.

Something important to flag: With tickets starting at $20 each, the XFL may be the most affordable sporting event in Seattle. They’re practically begging you to become a Sea Dragons fan.

The Seattle Sea Dragons are the apex predator in the Puget Sound. Lurking in the deep depths of the city's waters, they await their prey. #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/Aqvb3TyqUy
— Seattle Sea Dragons (@XFLSeaDragons) October 31, 2022

The time has come.

League of grit & passion where the X is the intersection of dreams and opportunity.

The @XFL2023 KICKS OFF 2.18 🏈📺

Get your game tickets now.

#54 pic.twitter.com/nZ3i0ekfLm
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 5, 2023

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Author

Nathalie Graham

Nathalie is a writer focused on anything she finds weird or fun. Sometimes this includes local politics and the environment, sometimes this involves scootering half-nude in Tacoma. She used to work as a staff writer at The Stranger where she did a lot of that sort of thing. She detests dentists and loves costume parties.