Orlando Guardians

New York, joined Seattle, Houston, LA, St. Louis, DC, Tampa Bay, and Dallas as the XFL's inaugural cities. On April 15, 2019, the team hired Kevin Gilbride, who most recently was the Offensive Coordinator for the New York Giants as their first head coach.^[2] The team name and logo were revealed on August 21, 2019, as well as the teams uniforms on December 3, 2019.^[3]

On October 15, 2019, The Guardians announced their first player in team history, being assigned former Oakland Raiders Quarterback Matt McGloin.^[4]

The Guardians won the first game in franchise history, topping the Tampa Bay Vipers 23–3 at MetLife Stadium. Quarterback Matt McGloin scored the first touchdown in team history on their first possession, a one-yard score that put them up 6–0.^[5] McGloin would later find Colby Pearson for a passing touchdown. Defensively, the Guardians forced three turnovers, including a fumble return for a touchdown by Jamar Summers. Tampa Bay reached the red zone five times, but emerged only with a field goal thanks to a standout defensive effort. The Guardians' first road game saw them become the victims of the first shutout in the new XFL's history, as they fell to the DC Defenders by a 27–0 final at Audi Field. The game became notable for a McGloin sideline interview with ABC/ESPN's Dianna Russini, in which he was very critical of the team's offensive gameplan. McGloin was eventually pulled from the game for backup Marquise Williams in the second half. On March 12, 2020, The XFL announced that the remainder of the 2020 XFL season had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team finished with a 3–2 record. On April 10, 2020, The XFL suspended operations, and all employees, players and staff would be terminated.

As early as April 2020, the XFL was reported to have been relocating a team to Orlando. Orlando had not yet been available at the time the league chose its inaugural eight teams because of the Alliance of American Football placing the Orlando Apollos there, but it was one of the largest markets without an NFL team and had hosted the Orlando Rage, one of the most successful teams in the original XFL of 2001. The earliest reports had the league planning to move the Tampa Bay Vipers to Orlando,^[6] as the Vipers had only lukewarm support (amid a league-worst 1–4 record) in Tampa, and its practice facility in Plant City^[7] was located on Interstate 4 halfway between the two cities, which are 80 miles (130 km) apart. The same reports had indicated that the league had hoped to stay in the New York metropolitan area, with the main obstacle being a stadium (MetLife Stadium was one of the largest stadiums in the XFL with one of the league's poorest average attendances); discussions had begun about potentially moving to the more appropriately sized Red Bull Arena.^[6] When team locations were revealed on July 25, 2022, the league (now under ownership of the Dany Garcia-Dwayne Johnson consortium) confirmed that Orlando would receive a team in 2023 and Tampa Bay would no longer have one. In the same announcement, the league also confirmed that there would also be no team in the New York area.^[8] However, when team brands were leaked in September and confirmed a month later, it was instead revealed that the Vipers brand would be relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and that Orlando would receive the branding of the former New York Guardians.^[9][10]

Terrell Buckley was reported as the Orlando team's head coach on April 6, 2022;^[11] the league confirmed this on July 25.^[12]

Orlando Guardians finished the season 1-9 only winning against the DC Defenders

In September 2023, Axios reported that the XFL was in advanced talks with the USFL to merge the two leagues prior to the start of their 2024 seasons.^[13] On September 28, 2023, the XFL and USFL announced their intent to merge with details surrounding the merger to be announced at a later date.^[14] The merger would also require regulatory approval.^[15] In October 2023 the XFL filed a trademark application for the name "United Football League".^[16] On November 30, 2023, Garcia announced via her Instagram page that the leagues had received regulatory approval for the merger and were finalizing plans for a "combined season" to begin March 30, 2024.^[17] The merger was made official on December 31, 2023, and on January 1, 2024, it was announced the Guardians would not be part of the merger.^[18][19]

The Guardians were the first professional outdoor football team in Orlando since the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football in 2019, where they averaged over 19,000 fans per game. The Guardians joined the Orlando Magic, Orlando Solar Bears ,Orlando City SC, and the Orlando Pride as professional sports teams based in Orlando. The Guardians also joined the Orlando Predators (NAL) as professional football teams located in Orlando.

• Official website
•   Media related to New York Guardians at Wikimedia Commons