Professional football returned to St. Louis on Sunday and a lot of fans turned out to see the XFL’s BattleHawks play their first home game.
There were 29,554 people in the lower bowl of The Dome at America’s Center to watch the new team and air their grievances against Rams owner Stan Kroenke for moving the team to Los Angeles. BattleHawks head coach Jonathan Hayes said the energy “really ignited” the team ahead of a 29-9 win over the New York Guardians and center Brian Folkerts said the turnout “exceeded my expectations.”
Wide receiver L’Damian Washington suggested trying for an even bigger crowd the next time out.
“We’ve got to open those upper decks,” Washington said, via XFL.com. “I think we can fill them up. It’s the first game and I think we still can fill up those open seats.”
St. Louis will be home to face Seattle next Saturday and we’ll see if the enthusiasm remains in place the second time around.