ST. LOUIS – Should the NFL give St. Louis another chance? It may not happen in the near future, but one pro football enthusiast says someday.
Mike Florio, the creator of ProFootballTalk.com in partnership with NBC Sports, made his case earlier this week with an article titled “St. Louis keeps showing it should have an NFL team.”
Florio touts the success of this year’s St. Louis Battlehawks, not only with results, but also with fan support. He finds it intriguing that the Battlehawks came closer to outdrawing the MLB Cardinals in attendance last Saturday (32,969 to 38,599) as both games happened concurrently.
As for attendance, the Battlehawks drew a spring football record 40,000 fans to the Dome at America’s Center during their home opener last month and more than double the league’s average attendance.
Attendance aside, Florio feels football fans were willing to support efforts for a new taxpayer-funded stadium before the NFL Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles in 2016. He says that process may be a hurdle now, but argues that the desire for professional football is stronger than ever.
“If the NFL wants to play in a place where a**** will be in seats, it needs to be taking St. Louis seriously,” said Florio.
After his article, Florio joined 101 ESPN for a chat about St. Louis and its NFL ties. His remarks included the following…
“The fact that St. Louis is so dramatically beyond the other seven [UFL] franchises, I really think they need to be taken seriously by the NFL.”
“At the end of the day, teams are going to have to build their own NFL stadiums. You want to go to places where the people and the money are. This is a proven market where people are going to show up. If you do have to pay for your own stadium, you pay for it in a place you know you’re going to get your money back because it’s going to be full every game and the fans are going to take to it.”
“I don’t know when, but it wouldn’t shock me if someday, St. Louis finds itself back into the NFL’s good graces.”
St. Louis has been home to four previous NFL franchises. The St. Louis All-Stars (1923), the St. Louis Gunners (1931-34), the St. Louis Cardinals (1960-1987) and the St. Louis Rams (1995-2016).
Meanwhile, the Battlehawks are embracing their third spring football season in five years. The Battlehawks first came about in the XFL’s 2020 reboot, shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They came back after another XFL run in 2023. And this year marks the Battlehawks’ first year in the United Football League, following a merger of the XFL and USFL leagues.
The Battlehawks are 5-1 behind stout defense (17 points allowed per game) and big contributors on offense, most notably quarterback A.J. McCarron (1,305 passing yards, 13 touchdowns) and wide receiver Hakeem Butler (478 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns).
The Battlehawks face arguably the biggest test of their season this Saturday: An upcoming road match against the undefeated Birmingham Stallions (6-0). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. FOX 2 will carry the game broadcast.