Essay Example on Houston Roughnecks: Rising Pro Football Team in TX from XFL

The Houston Roughnecks is a relatively new but popular American football team from Houston in Texas. The team plays at the professional level. Roughneck is operated and owned by XFL, where it plays its home matches at TDECU Stadium. XFL is a professional American football league. Even though the Roughneck established in 2018, it has already joined New York, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Seattle as league's inaugural cities. The supportive fan base for Houston Roughneck has led to the success of the team in American football.

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Since Roughneck played their first match, the team has enjoyed overwhelming support from large crowds that come to cheer the team. In their first game, 17,815 fans went to TDECU Stadium to cheer the team (Matthews, 2020). The number is much higher compared to other XFL teams whose average number of supporters per game is 17,409 (Matthews, 2020). The large fan base enables the organization to generate enough revenue to sustain its operations. Taking into consideration the fact that a ticket for a single-game seat is $30, then in each game, the team can generate thousands of dollars (Matthews, 2020). In 2020, the team expects to create more than $1.5 million from events revenue streams (Matthews, 2020).

The reason a vast fan base is because the team ensured that it develop and maintain good relations with the fan base. Some of the efforts taken by the team to maintain its fan base include taking part in community activities in support of upcoming talents. For example, XFL helped Houston University construct a new field (Caron, 2020). The relationship and the proximity of the team's home ground to the university help increase the number of fans who come to watch the game. Besides to improve the fan experience, XFL installed the internet in a different part of the stadium. Besides, for years, XFL has been a notable brand in soccer, wrestling, and NBC, among others (Caron, 2020). XFL has its own and manages eight teams in the Houston Roughneck. The supporters of the other seven teams support Houston Roughneck as well. Additionally, XFL has partnered with national television companies to advertise the club. It also had promotional ads on Super Bowl.

The supporters of Roughneck have similar cultural characteristics with those of the other XFL teams. They love excitement, and this is evident in their loud cheering in the field. There is no limit on how the fans can cheer their team. In Roughneck games, the cheers are roaring to the extent that players cannot ear instructions for their coaches. The united spirit among the Roughneck's fans is associated with the fact that most of the players come from Houston. The fact that Roughneck utilizes most of the local talents by signing athletes who were passed up from high school help to create excitement and a sense of ownership and belonging to the team. Their patriotism to the team is evident in the jerseys they wear at any game. As a result, the team is part of their local culture.

In most cases, fans wear Roughneck gear. Even before the team played its first game, a large fan base had already developed in Houston, with most of them putting colored XFL uniforms (Mastromartino et al., 2020). The launch of Roughneck in 2018 significantly improved the spirit of unity among the residents of Houston. Interestingly, the Roughneck fans are not interested in the National Football League or any other sport. In 2019, Houston rated among the last five cities with a weak fan base (Giles, 2019). While the number of fans supporting other games continues to decline, the number of supporters of Roughneck is on the rise in Houston.

The other reason for the popularity of the XFL is the difference between the league and the NFL. XFL is a little more of a faster pace than NFL, thus creating more excitement. The more excitement emanated from the new rules that differentiate XFL from NFL. For example, in XFL, the kicker kicks from the 30-yard line towards the area between the end zone and opponent's 20-yard line. NFL made a strike the ball from a 35-yard line with five players at either side of the ball (XFL). For NFL, their rule help creates more opportunities for touchbacks while of XFL the kickoff rule to eliminate sprint collision. The distinct difference between the two leagues is the rules pertaining point-after touchdown, punt, double-forward pass, and overtime. To increase the pace of the XML, thus increase excitement, five timing changes set in place.

From the above discussion, it is evident that XFL Roughneck is one of the most famous American football team in Houston. Despite being founded in 2018, the group as a relatively more extensive and growing fan base. The team has introduced several initiatives such as the installation of Wi-Fi and taking part in community projects, a fact that has attracted many fans to the support to support it. Besides, XFL has new football rules that make the game more exciting to its wild fans. The culture of the fans supporting Roughneck depended on their excitement. The presence of local young talents from high school helps to create excitement and unite Houston residence. By focusing on the excitement of fans, the team can attract many fans. As a result, Houston residence supports the team in their thousands by attending home games and wearing their team's gear.

References

Caron, E. (2020, February 17). The University of Houston benefitting from Roughnecks, XFL partnership. Front Office Sports. https://frntofficesport.com/university-of-houston-xfl-roughnecks/

Matthews, C. (2020, February 16). XFL attendance: Roughneck fans pour out again, 17,103 in attendance. NFL Draft Diamonds. https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2020/02/xfl-attendance-10/

Mastromartino, B., Chou, W., & Zhang, J. (2020). The passion that unites us all: The culture and consumption of sports fans. In Exploring the rise of fandom in contemporary consumerculture (pp. 52-70). IGI Global. https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/the-passion-that-unites-us-all/190233

Giles, H. (2019). Sports, Culture, and Intergroup Communication. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, 1-5. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0175XFL. "XFL Rules." XFL - Official Home of the XFL, www.xfl.com/rules.