Does Louisville have a chance at getting an XFL team? Don't get your hopes up

Since Vince McMahon announced last week that he will bring back the defunct XFL in a new form in 2020, fans across the country have speculated about whether their city could host a team.

And the local rumors have started.

Two Twitter accounts, @XFL2Lou and @XFLtoLouisville, have surfaced.

Could it happen in Louisville? It’s not likely.

The first edition of the XFL failed after one season in 2001, in which the quality of play was low, player safety was an issue and fan interest plummeted after the first week. NBC, the media rights partner for the league, convinced sports executive McMahon that the league could not survive and that the parties should not complete their two-year contract.

McMahon said last week that the new XFL will learn from the deficiencies of the old one, presenting a more polished product. The entertainment mogul said he would put up $100 million of investment to start and hoped to “reimagine football.”

You may like this: NBA to Louisville? Talk has little traction

McMahon was not specific about which cities would have teams, but he did say, “every city is on our radar.”

In 2001, the XFL had teams in San Francisco at Pacific Bell Park; in New York/New Jersey at Giants Stadium; in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Coliseum; in Chicago at Soldier Field; in Orlando, Florida, at the Citrus Bowl; in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium; in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Liberty Bowl; and in Birmingham, Alabama, at Legion Field.

At the time, that list included three markets with an NFL team and five without.

For Louisville to obtain a professional team, a league or prospective owner would have to initiate a conversation about starting a franchise, said Karl Schmitt, president of the Louisville Sports Commission, last Friday.

McMahon has said the XFL will own all eight teams in the new league.

“At the Sports Commission, it’s not in our mission to be the starting point behind any type of professional league team,” Schmitt said.

Rather, a team or league might call the Sports Commission and inquire about the Sports Commission serving as a reference. But Schmitt said he has not received any such call.

And, Schmitt added, “a place to play could become an issue.”

More: NBA-to-Louisville roadblocks remain after Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich removed

No hoops: Kentucky Derby Festival cancels high school basketball all-star game

It’s not clear where a possible XFL team would host games in Louisville.

The University of Louisville will unveil a newly renovated, 65,000-seat Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in September. The first edition of the XFL did play in stadiums as large as the Coliseum, but the average attendance for each team ranged between 15,710 in Chicago and 35,005 in San Francisco, so Schmitt raised the point that a capacity of 65,000 would be too large.

All other local options would be too small, except perhaps the new Butchertown stadium scheduled to be the home of Louisville City FC starting in 2020, the same year the XFL returns. But that stadium has been designed as a soccer-specific stadium, and Louisville City’s league dictates that each team must play in a soccer-specific stadium beginning in 2020. There are no plans to build goalposts or paint yard lines in the soccer stadium.

Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jakel.

Cards news: Louisville basketball is bruised but not broken after loss to Virginia

Cats news: Kentucky to hire former Colts coach Brad White as 10th assistant coach