Demons

Both sides had fought through the XFL's single spring in 2001 and arrived at the same stadium for the league's title match, billed as the Million Dollar Game. The Xtreme took it apart, 38-6, and within weeks the league itself had folded.

Jim Skipper coached the side to a 5-5 record, enough to sneak into the play-offs, where they edged the Orlando Rage 26-25 to book their place in the final.

Home games were played at Pacific Bell Park, reshaped from baseball use for a capacity of 40,800, with the team turning out in red, black and yellow. Founded in 2001 for a league that lasted one season, the Demons had no time to grow a settled rivalry beyond that one afternoon against the Xtreme, when the whole year came down to a single result and went the wrong way.