Stamford, Conn., June 26, 2019 – The XFL today announced that St. Louis native Kurt Hunzeker, most recently the Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Research for Minor League Baseball (MiLB), has been named President of the XFL football team in St. Louis.

The St. Louis XFL team will take the field in February 2020 for its inaugural season and play its home games at The Dome at America’s Center. Jonathan Hayes is the team’s head coach and general manager.

Hunzeker, a University of Missouri graduate, will be responsible for the team’s fan engagement and business operations, including ticket sales, corporate partnerships, marketing, content, communications, community relations, and the game day experience.

“Vince McMahon, Oliver Luck and I are fortunate to have an executive as accomplished as Kurt join the XFL family as President of our St. Louis team,” said Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and Chief Operating Officer. “He is a dynamic sports business professional who will put his two decades of strategic leadership, creativity and operational experience to work as we reimagine the game and return professional football to St. Louis.”

“I’m thankful for this incredible opportunity to be part of the team that is bringing football back to town,” said Hunzeker. “The XFL team in St. Louis will be the first modern professional football team born in and exclusively for this great city. Each neighborhood is proud to be a unique subset of the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, and I’ve been blessed to live in quite a few. I pledge to work with Coach Hayes to make this team an integral part of this terrific, sports-loving community and look forward to bringing reimagined football and fan-centric fun to the Dome in 2020.”

In his position with MiLB, which he held since 2015, Hunzeker identified potential commercial partners and developed brand-building campaigns, fan engagement strategies and innovative strategic marketing plans for the organization and on behalf of 160 teams. During his tenure, he developed MiLB’s 10-year strategic marketing plan, including its first-ever national campaign, “It’s Fun to Be a Fan®”, and the Spanish-language version, “Es Divertido Ser Un Fan™”. He also managed the creation of Copa de la Diversión™ (the “Fun Cup”), a season-long event series celebrating the unique heritage and contributions of each team’s respective Hispanic communities that will include more than half of MiLB’s franchises by 2020.

Hunzeker joined MiLB after spending five years with St. Louis-based Rawlings Sporting Goods as Senior Director of Brand Marketing, where he directed the company’s global brand marketing and media buying efforts. He also spearheaded the integration of sabermetrics into the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, its expansion into other professional leagues, and the creation of the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award national fan vote initiative.

Hunzeker was an adjunct professor at Maryville University’s John E. Simon School of Business in St. Louis (2014), and served as a member of the St. Louis University Sports Business Advisory Board (2011-2014).

He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in May 1999 with a Bachelor of Journalism. He currently resides in Tampa, but he and his family will soon return home to the St. Louis area.

ABOUT THE XFL
The XFL will reimagine football for the 21st century when it kicks off the weekend of February 8-9, 2020, committed to delivering a brisk, fast-paced game, with a fan-centric, innovative, and affordable gameday experience. The inaugural season will launch with teams in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Washington D.C. Each team will compete with a 45-man active roster over a 10-week regular season with a postseason consisting of two semifinal playoff games and a championship game. Every XFL game – every week – will be nationally televised and easy-to-find for fans coast-to-coast. Starting in February 2020, the XFL will air weekly on ABC and FOX, with games also on ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and FS2. Vince McMahon, XFL Founder and Chairman, is personally funding the new league, and building the XFL with the same commitment and resolve that he has demonstrated building WWE into a global media and sports entertainment powerhouse. For more information, visit XFL.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Newport Beach, CA., June 15, 2019 – American National Combines, led by former NFL executive and founder of the NFL Regional and Super Regional Combines, Stephen Austin, has been hired by the new XFL to develop, organize and manage on-field operations of the league’s eight Summer Showcases.

XFL Summer Showcases are by-invitation-only workouts for players to display their skills before XFL head  coach/general manages, assistant coaches, player development staff, and league personnel.

Each Showcase will feature approximately 100 athletes that ANC will take through several hours of combine athletic training, position drills and one-on-one competition. Following the conclusion of the Showcases, XFL league staff and coaches will determine which of the athletes will be part of the league’s pre-draft player pool. The XFL draft will take place in the Fall of 2019.

The league’s ANC produces workouts will be in each of the league’s eight home markets; Dallas (June 7); Houton (June 8); New Jersey (June 14), Washington, D.C. (June 15); Seattle (June 21); Long Beach, Calif. (June 22); and St. Louis (July 13).

About American National Combines

ANC is the nation’s leading provider of pro football combines operating combine events on behalf of professional football leagues.

ANC owner, Stephen Austin, is also the founder of the NFL Regional and Super Regional Combines and served as Director of Operations for NFL Combine Propertines from 2009 to 2015. During his career, Stephen has tested and evaluated over 65,000 pro football prospects.

XFL NAMES FRED HARNER TO LEAD CONTENT AND MEDIA INITIATIVES

Stamford, Conn., June 17, 2019 – The XFL today announced that Fred Harner, most recently Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media at SportsNet New York, has been named Senior Vice President of Content and Media.

In his new position, Harner will lead the XFL’s content strategy and all digital and social media initiatives for the league and its eight teams. He will also work closely with the XFL’s broadcast partners – ESPN and FOX Sports – to help drive tune-in and fan engagement, and manage the development of new programming initiatives.

“Vince McMahon and I are delighted to have a recognized and seasoned media executive like Fred join the XFL and help us offer fans fresh and compelling football content,” said Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and Chief Operating Officer. “Fred’s career has been marked by two decades of innovation and transformation, and he will help us connect with our fans through new points of access to the game they love.”

“I’m so grateful to Vince McMahon and Jeffrey Pollack for this truly unique opportunity,” said Harner. “Launching and leading digital operations at YES and SNY was both challenging and exhilarating. I see many similarities with the new XFL, and look forward to reimagining the digital aspects of fan engagement as we drive to our February launch.”

As head of SNY’s digital operation from 2007 to 2019, Harner oversaw business development, sales, sponsorship, live streaming, multi-platform content creation, social media, VOD, partner relations, analytics, and digital products. He drove SNY.tv traffic and revenue to all-time highs, and introduced live-streaming of New York Mets games and University of Connecticut basketball games. Harner also led business initiatives with partners such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, NBCU sports properties, MLB Advanced Media, Adobe, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, and The Score.

Before joining SNY, Harner spent six years as the digital media director at the YES Network, helping to launch the most-watched regional sports network in the U.S. and quickly establishing the network’s web site as a prime resource for Yankees fans around the globe. He also spent five years as a senior editor for ABC Sports Online and ESPN.com, managing ABC Sports’ Monday Night Football, Bowl Championship Series, Triple Crown, and Indy 500 digital coverage.

Harner has won multiple N.Y. Sports Emmy and Telly Awards, and was selected to participate in Comcast/NBCU’s exclusive INVEST executive leadership development program. A regular on the speaker circuit, he has appeared on several panels, including the SXSW Technology Conference and BlogWorld & New Media Expo.

Harner earned a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Maine in 1993 and a Master’s in Athletic Administration from Ohio University in 1995.

ABOUT THE XFL

The XFL will reimagine football for the 21st century when it kicks off the weekend of February 8-9, 2020, committed to delivering a brisk, fast-paced game, with a fan-centric, innovative, and affordable gameday experience. The inaugural season will launch with teams in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Washington D.C. Each team will compete with a 45-man active roster over a 10-week regular season with a postseason consisting of two semifinal playoff games and a championship game. Every XFL game – every week – will be nationally televised and easy-to-find for fans coast-to-coast. Starting in February 2020, the XFL will air weekly on ABC and FOX, with games also on ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and FS2. Vince McMahon, XFL Founder and Chairman, is personally funding the new league, and building the XFL with the same commitment and resolve that he has demonstrated building WWE into a global media and sports entertainment powerhouse. For more information, visit XFL.com and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

XFL SPRINGS INTO ACTION AGAIN, TESTING RULES, SCOUTING PLAYERS

Stamford, Conn., June 12, 2019 – The XFL today announced that it will again partner with The Spring League, an elite professional football development league, to scout talent, test potential rule adjustments, and experiment with potential in-game technologies it as prepares for kick-off in February 2020.

The Spring League (TSL) will take the field with the XFL this summer to conduct two four-day scouting events in Southern California, the first of which will take place June 17-20 at Mission Viejo High School. The second will run July 28-31 at a location to be announced soon.

These events provide players with opportunities to display their ability in front of XFL head coaches and their staffs, and other professional football scouts. At the same time, TSL coaches will work closely with the XFL football operations team to test on-field and rules adjustments the league has developed and may adopt when it launches next year.

“We’re in an important phase of our development and The Spring League gives us the perfect platform to continue our effort to reimagine the game,” said Oliver Luck, XFL Commissioner & CEO. “We had a great experience and learned so much at The Spring League in April, and feel confident that after these next two sessions we’ll have identified a few XFL-caliber players and  be closer to finalizing our rules and gameplay.”

“We are excited to be working with the XFL again and further demonstrate our value as both a platform for player development and incubator for rules testing,” said Brian Woods, CEO of The Spring League. “Our summer events will provide additional opportunities for players to be scouted by XFL coaches and scouts in advance of their 2020 launch.”

ABOUT THE XFL

The XFL will reimagine football for the 21st century when it kicks off the weekend of February 8-9, 2020, committed to delivering a brisk, fast-paced game, with a fan-centric, innovative, and affordable gameday experience. The inaugural season will launch with teams in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Washington D.C. Each team will compete with a 45-man active roster over a 10-week regular season with a postseason consisting of two semifinal playoff games and a championship game. Every XFL game – every week – will be nationally televised and easy-to-find for fans coast-to-coast. Starting in February 2020, the XFL will air weekly on ABC and FOX, with games also on ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and FS2. Vince McMahon, XFL Founder and Chairman, is personally funding the new league, and building the XFL with the same commitment and resolve that he has demonstrated building WWE into a global media and sports entertainment powerhouse. For more information, visit XFL.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

ABOUT THE SPRING LEAGUE

The Spring League is an elite development league and scouting event for professional football talent. All teams in The Spring League utilize one central location, for both practices and games, allowing NFL scouts, GM’s, and player personnel directors with an opportunity to evaluate players in one setting. Nearly all of the players who participate in The Spring League have spent time on an NFL active, practice, or pre-season roster. Since 2017, over 100 players have been either signed or invited to a camp by an NFL or CFL team. For more information, please visit: https://www.thespringleague.com/.