Five Places in South Dakota That Could Host an XFL Team

Vince McMahon is going to try to bring back the XFL in 2020 but hasn't selected cities yet. Here's five places in South Dakota that he could bring a team to.

In a press conference on Thursday (January 25), WWE CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon announced that he intends to bring back the XFL in 2020. The XFL previously lasted one season in 2000-2001 and has been recognized as a colossal failure.

ESPN put together a 30 for 30 on the XFL from its announcement to the demise. Some of the ideas were innovative and have led to standard broadcast items that we see today. A lot of it though was partly ahead of its time, but now most of it would be considered past its time.

That's why McMahon's new vision of the XFL will feature a more modern approach. In his press conference, McMahon says that the XFL will not be affiliated with the WWE in any way, and it's focus will be on football.

Some of his ideas included getting great character football players into the league (those without any form of a criminal record), games that last two hours, and be ahead of the game in regards to player safety.

Anyways, that sounds like a great system that us here in South Dakota could get behind. So I've found five places in the state that could host an XFL franchise.

1) Howard Wood Field - Sioux Falls, SD

Obviously the biggest city in South Dakota would have to have a shot at an XFL team. Being that the high school football and soccer seasons would be over, Howard Wood Field would be wide open for an XFL team outside of when track season hits. It has the great turf for player safety and the brand new field houses. Plus, maybe we can convince the Sioux Falls Storm to become an outdoor team and become an XFL franchise.

While it might be great, it would be difficult to convince people to go freeze outdoors in January/February at Howard Wood Field.

2) DakotaDome - Vermillion, SD

Okay, so if the cold weather for Sioux Falls is too much then moving indoors to the DakotaDome could be a friendly environment. Sure, the facility needs some work and the Board of Regents recently approved USD to renovate the dome. But maybe Vince himself could throw some extra money into it. I mean, it seems that he likes throwing money around.

Another bright side is that the DakotaDome might cater to the initial attendance demands of the XFL.

3) Johnson Memorial Field - Selby, SD

I know it seems like a huge stretch, but there is a lot of opportunity in the former part-time home of the Dakota/Nebraska Lawdawgs. When the Lawdawgs were unable to host home games at O'Gorman, they moved some of their regular season contests to Selby in the early 2010's.

Selby is a small town holding just 642 people, but they are passionate about their football. Located west of Aberdeen and east of Mobridge on Highway 12, Selby would provide the unique South Dakota environment to a national landscape.

4) Winner High School - Winner, SD

Tradition. Pride. Championships. Everything that is football is located in the town of roughly 3,000 people. You won't find a more passionate fanbase for football than in Winner...to a point where if I didn't say what is true I would receive quite a few emails.

Winner would provide a central location that is on the south side of the state. Heck, temperatures would even be a little better. If the XFL wants a rabid fanbase that will be the most passionate in the league, McMahon better look to the town of Winner.

5) Wall Stadium - Wall, SD

The Wall Eagles have a fantastic stadium. McMahon, along with the help of South Dakota tourism, could potentially upscale the field in Wall even more and make it a gigantic stadium! All signs in South Dakota lead to Wall (Drug), so for any visiting fan would have no issue locating the town.

It would give a perfect environment for visiting teams to make a quick visit to Mt. Rushmore or even to Pierre! But most importantly, the sidelines would be filled with five cent coffee during the months of January/February.

Welcome back XFL. Just know you'd have a home here in South Dakota.

See Also: