STAMFORD Conn. & MEMPHIS Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 21 2000–The XFL a new professional football league jointly owned and operated by WWE Entertainment Inc. (NMS: WWE) and NBC announced today that a Memphis-based team will be one of eight scheduled to kick-off the league’s inaugural season on Feb. 3 2001. The Memphis entry – still to be named – will play its five regular-season home games and a potential playoff game in the Liberty Bowl.

"It’s great to have Memphis aboard as a charter XFL city. It’s a vibrant city and one that we believe will respond favorably to the XFL brand of football ” said Basil V. DeVito Jr. President of the XFL. "The opportunity to play at the Liberty Bowl – one of the most prominent football stadiums in the Mid-South – is an added bonus for both the XFL and the fans. It’s an extremely fan-friendly venue and one that will enhance the XFL’s in-stadium event experience.”

"We are proud to welcome the XFL to our city ” said the Honorable W.W. Herenton Mayor of Memphis. "Big-time pro-football belongs in Memphis and at the Liberty Bowl. The XFL and Memphis will make sweet music together.”

XFL will be 100 percent competitive sport – the brand of football that hardcore football fans haven’t seen in a long time and the brand of football that new fans have never seen before. The league will connect with fans by returning football to its roots and the wide-open style of play while at the same time encourage individuality and the natural expression of emotion and exhilaration on the field of play. Television viewers will be given unprecedented access with cameras positioned in locker rooms on sidelines and in the helmets of selected players. XFL players coaches locker rooms and huddles will also be mic’d providing viewers with unique insight into the strategy of the game and enabling them to fully experience the true emotion attitude and intensity of the players both on and off the field. Through rule changes designed to enhance the action and speed of the game along with broadcast television innovations that will bring fans "inside the game ” the XFL will recapture the natural personality fun and intensity of pro football.