When does the XFL season start in 2023? Dates, times, TV schedule for every XFL game

Jacob Camenker

When does the XFL season start in 2023? Dates, times, TV schedule for every XFL game image

The XFL's long-awaited return to action in 2020 was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Three years later, the spring start-up league is returning under new leadership, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's ownership group presiding over it.

The XFL's 2023 season will begin soon, and its schedule has been finalized. Each of the league's eight teams will play 10 regular-season games with no bye weeks from mid-February to the end of April. The teams will play five games at home and five on the road.

Following the regular season, there will be a playoff to determine a champion. The top two teams from each division will square off in the divisional round and the winners of those games will play in the championship game.

The XFL will be split into two divisions. The North Division will feature the D.C. Defenders, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks and Vegas Vipers. The South Division contains the other four teams: the Arlington Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas.

The Vipers and Renegades will kickstart the season on Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. ET. That will be followed by a matchup between the Guardians and Roughnecks at 8:30 p.m. ET.

MORE: Watch the 2023 XFL season on fuboTV (free trial)

Below is a full schedule of the XFL's schedule for 2022, including information on TV channels, start times and more.

XFL 2023 schedule

The XFL has announced its 10-game regular-season schedule for 2023. The 10-week season will run from Feb. 18 through April 22 and will consist of 40 regular-season games. There will then be three playoffs games — two divisional contests and one championship game — that will take place in late April and mid-May.

MORE: Complete draft results, rosters, team-by-team picks from XFL Draft

The league has announced the dates and TV channels for all of its contests in 2023. The games will air on the ESPN family of networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and FX. All of the contests will be available to stream on fuboTV, which comes with a free trial.

Below is a look at the full 10-week schedule and matchups for the 2023 XFL season:

Week 1

Saturday, Feb. 18

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Vegas Vipers at Arlington Renegades3 p.m. ETABC
Orlando Guardians at Houston Roughnecks8:30 p.m. ETESPN/FX

Sunday, Feb. 19

GameKickoff timeTV channel
St. Louis Battlehawks at San Antonio Brahmas3 p.m. ETABC
Seattle Sea Dragons at D.C. Defenders8 p.m. ETESPN

Week 2

Thursday, Feb. 23

GameKickoff timeTV channel
St. Louis Battlehawks at Seattle Sea Dragons9 p.m. ETFX

Saturday, Feb. 25

GameKickoff timeTV channel
D.C. Defenders at Vegas Vipers7 p.m. ETFX

Sunday, Feb. 26

GameKickoff timeTV channel
San Antonio Brahmas at Orlando Guardians4 p.m. ETESPN
Arlington Renegades at Houston Roughnecks7 p.m. ETESPN2

Week 3

Saturday, March 4

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Seattle Sea Dragons at Vegas Vipers7 p.m. ETFX

Sunday, March 5

GameKickoff timeTV channel
St. Louis Battlehawks at D.C. Defenders1 p.m. ETFX
Orlando Guardians at Arlington Renegades4 p.m. ETFX
San Antonio Brahmas at Houston Roughnecks8 p.m. ETESPN2

Week 4

Saturday, March 11

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Houston Roughnecks at Orlando Guardians7 p.m. ETFX
San Antonio Brahmas at Seattle Sea Dragons10 p.m. ETFX

Sunday, March 12

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Arlington Renegades at St. Louis Battlehawks4 p.m. ETESPN2
Vegas Vipers at D.C. Defenders7 p.m. ETESPN2

Week 5

Thursday, March 16

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Houston Roughnecks at Seattle Sea Dragons9 p.m. ETFX

Saturday, March 18

GameKickoff timeTV channel
D.C. Defenders at St. Louis Battlehawks7 p.m. ETFX
Orlando Guardians at Vegas Vipers10 p.m. ETFX

Sunday, March 19

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Arlington Renegades at San Antonio Brahmas9 p.m. ETESPN2

Week 6

Saturday, March 25

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Seattle Sea Dragons at Orlando Guardians1:30 p.m. ETESPN
St. Louis Battlehawks at Vegas Vipers7 p.m. ETFX

Sunday, March 26

GameKickoff timeTV channel
San Antonio Brahmas at Arlington Renegades3 p.m. ETABC

Monday, March 27

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Houston Roughnecks at D.C. Defenders7 p.m. ETFX

Week 7

Friday, March 31

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Seattle Sea Dragons at Arlington Renegades7 p.m. ETFX

Saturday, April 1

GameKickoff timeTV channel
San Antonio Brahmas at Vegas Vipers3 p.m. ETESPN2

Sunday, April 2

GameKickoff timeTV channel
St. Louis Battlehawks at Houston Roughnecks2 p.m. ETESPN
D.C. Defenders at Orlando Guardians6 p.m. ETESPN

Week 8

Saturday, April 8

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Vegas Vipers at St. Louis Battlehawks1 p.m. ETESPN
Arlington Renegades at Orlando Guardians4 p.m. ETESPN

Sunday, April 9

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Houston Roughnecks at San Antonio Brahmas3 p.m. ETABC
D.C. Defenders at Seattle Sea Dragons7 p.m. ETESPN2

Week 9

Saturday, April 15

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Vegas Vipers at Houston Roughnecks12:30 p.m. ETABC
Orlando Guardians at San Antonio Brahmas7 p.m. ETESPN2

Sunday, April 16

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Arlington Renegades at D.C. DefendersNoon ETESPN
Seattle Sea Dragons at St. Louis Battlehawks3 p.m. ETESPN

Week 10

Saturday, April 22

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Orlando Guardians at St. Louis BattlehawksNoon ETESPN
D.C. Defenders at San Antonio Brahmas3 p.m. ETABC

Sunday, April 23

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Houston Roughnecks at Arlington Renegades3 p.m. ETESPN
Vegas Vipers at Seattle Sea Dragons9 p.m. ETESPN2

MORE: Most recognizable XFL players, from AJ McCarron to Martavis Bryant

XFL playoffs schedule 2023

The XFL playoffs will take place immediately after the 2023 season concludes. The first round of the playoffs will take place on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30 while the league's championship game will be played two weeks later on Saturday, May 13.

The XFL hasn't yet announced whether the championship game will be played at a neutral site. Below is the full playoff schedule for 2023:

Divisional round

Saturday, April 29

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Semifinal No. 17 p.m. ETESPN2

Sunday, April 30

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Semifinal No. 23 p.m. ETESPN

Championship game

Saturday, May 13

GameKickoff timeTV channel
Championship game3 p.m. ETABC

MORE: Revisiting PJ Walker's XFL success with Houston Roughnecks

How to watch XFL games

The XFL's games will all be available to watch on the ESPN family of networks or FX. It shouldn't be too hard to find, though it may take sports fans some getting used to as they look for FX on their channel listings.

Below is a full list of the networks that will carry games throughout the 2023 XFL season.

  • FX: 15
  • ESPN: 12
  • ESPN2: 10
  • ABC: 7

There will be a total of 44 broadcasts for the 43 games, as the second game of the season between the Guardians and Roughnecks will be simulcast on ESPN and FX. The games will also be available to stream on ESPN+ with a subscription.

Meanwhile, streamers without ESPN+ subscriptions can catch all 43 games using fuboTV, which comes with a free trial.

    Jacob Camenker

    Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.