ARLINGTON, Texas — The last time the Renegades played an XFL game they lost -- and the league shutdown and went bankrupt weeks later.
On Saturday, they got a win, and the outlook for the league looks a lot better.
"This is surreal because this was the dream," XFL co-owner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said before kickoff Saturday. "This was our dream years ago and for it not to have come true back then but for it to come true today in a new capacity to create these opportunities for players is great."
Johnson is part of a group that bought the XFL after the COVID-19 pandemic ended its inaugural season early and led to the league’s demise.
The eight-team league has a couple changes, and notably the Dallas Renegades have been renamed the Arlington Renegades.
"When they changed the name to Arlington Renegades we were like, 'ok, we got to get some gear,'" fan Connor Ciresi said.
Ciresi came with his family to the opener on Saturday. He was the only one in the family to check out a game in the 2020 season.
“For me, it’s awesome,” Kathy Ciresi, Connor’s mom, said. “These are my two boys and my husband so it’s something that we can do as a family that it’s not – unfortunately some of the other pro sports, it’s expensive to take a family.”
The pricing is also why Bailey Michelle wants the league to succeed.
“I hope it sticks around,” she said. “It’s a lot more accessible than a Cowboys game where you have to pay like $500/ticket, so I hope it sticks around. I mean I love football.”
Nearly 20,000 filled the stands in short-sleeve weather at the opener in 2020.
This time on a windy day with temperatures barely hitting 50 degrees, 12,047 fans showed up at Choctaw Stadium, the former home of the Texas Rangers.
University of Oklahoma fans could see Renegades coach Bob Stoops on the sidelines, and college football junkies came to watch their favorite former players get a shot to play again.
"We went to Texas A&M and there’s a couple Aggies on our team," fan Forest Deptawa said. "So we wanted to support them."
"We’re a league of second chances," Dwayne Johnson said. "We’re a league of grit and passion, but we’re a league of opportunity."
The Renegades got dramatic a win Saturday, holding off the Vegas Vipers. But, the real victory will be keeping the league alive.
“I hope that it grows,” Kathy Ciresi said. “Everyone around us is super excited and I’ve had just as much fun watching the fans as I have watching the game.”