The 2023 XFL Championship Game was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

game on May 13, 2023, at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. The contest determined the champion of the

2023 XFL season The 2023 XFL season is the league's second season, the first planned under its new ownership group of Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (RedBird Capital), and the third in the history of the XFL brand created and originally owned by ...

and was played between the South Division title winners

Arlington Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL (2020), XFL owne ...

and the North Division title winners

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

. The game began at 8:00 p.m. EDT and was aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Background

The game was the first championship game of the second stint of the XFL. In the first stint of the XFL, there was only one championship game held, the

Million Dollar Game The Million Dollar Game, also known as the (2001 or 1st) XFL Championship, was the lone championship of the original 2001 incarnation of the XFL. The game was played on Saturday, April 21, 2001 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Western Divis ...

in 2001. The league folded shortly after the game was played. A championship game was scheduled for the end of the

2020 XFL season The 2020 XFL season was the first season in the reboot of the XFL, and the second in the history of the XFL brand created and owned by professional wrestling magnate Vince McMahon, coming 19 years after the 2001 XFL season. The season began on F ...

but was forbidden from taking place due to

stay-at-home order A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, movement control order (more common in Southeast Asia), or lockdown restrictions (in the United Kingdom) – also referred to by loose use of the terms (self-) quarantine, (self-) isolation, or lockdow ...

s and gathering restrictions tied to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, which forced the premature end of the 2020 season after five weeks of play.

Host selection

On February 19, 2023, the

was selected as host for the first edition of the championship. The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat venue in the southeastern fringe of Downtown San Antonio. Opened in May 1993, the stadium is home to one of the XFL's own teams,

San Antonio Brahmas The San Antonio Brahmas are a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. History The XFL ...

. The stadium is also known as the home stadium for the UTSA Roadrunners football program and the annual

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and ...

XFL playoff

The four teams competing in the Playoff clinched their spot during their regular season during different times of the overall season of the league. The top two placed teams in each division would face against each other for the division title. Whichever division title game team won, would then face the other champion from the other division in the XFL Championship Game. Both DC Defenders and Houston Roughnecks clinched their spot after Week 8. Lastly, both Arlington Renegades and Seattle Sea Dragons clinched their spot after Seattle won their last regular season game and San Antonio lost their last regular season game. Controversy began as

St. Louis Battlehawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha A ...

were eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the season and had a higher overall record than Arlington Renegades (yet being in two separate divisions), the Battlehawks placed third in the North division after failing the tie-breakers against the Seattle Sea Dragons. The Division Finals were played on April 29 and April 30, 2023. In the South Division Final title game,

upset

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

as 6.5 point underdogs, 26–11. In the North Division Final title game,

defeated

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founded ...

37–21.

Bracket

Teams

Arlington Renegades

Arlington Renegades finished their second overall season under head coach

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...

, going 4–6 and advancing to their first playoff berth to the division title game against

(South Division leaders).

DC Defenders

DC Defenders finished their second overall season under head coach

Reggie Barlow Reggie Devon Barlow (born January 22, 1972) is a former American football player and coach who is currently the head coach and general manager for the DC Defenders of the XFL. Barlow served as the head football coach at Alabama State University fr ...

, going 9–1 and advancing to their first playoff berth to the division title game against

Game summary

Scoring summary

Statistics

References

{{2023 XFL season

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

2023 in American football XFL Championship Game 2023 in American television American football in Texas Events in San Antonio Arlington Renegades DC Defenders XFL Championship Game XFL Championship Game