2025 NXL season

The 2025 NXL season was the United States national tournament season of the National Xball League. Its five-event calendar ran from the Tampa Bay Open in March to the World Cup in November. Competition included professional and divisional five-player X-Ball, WNXL, conventional five-player and three-player divisions, and Classic competition. A separate professional three-player X-Ball points series began at the Midwest Open.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

PaintballFIT won the professional five-player season championship, Edmonton Impact won the professional three-player series, and the Heroines won the WNXL professional championship. Tampa Bay Damage won both professional five-player and professional three-player competition at World Cup.[1][11][12]

United States calendar

The national points series comprised five events. Dates below include additional competition days where applicable, rather than only the Friday–Sunday five-player programme.[2][3][4][5][6]

Event	Dates	Venue	Location
2025 NXL Tampa Bay Open	7–9 March 2025	Raymond James Stadium event site	Tampa, Florida
2025 NXL Atlantic City Open	2–4 May 2025	Bader Field	Atlantic City, New Jersey
2025 NXL Midwest Open	19–22 June 2025	Joyce Park	Fairfield, Ohio
2025 NXL Lone Star Open	11–14 September 2025	Audubon Park	Garland, Texas
2025 NXL World Cup	12–16 November 2025	NXL World Cup site, 6000 West Osceola Parkway	Kissimmee, Florida

The Midwest and Lone Star programmes included professional three-player X-Ball on Thursday. World Cup began its professional three-player competition on Wednesday, 12 November, before the five-player programme.[4][5][6]

The 2025 MLPB Pro 3v3 World Championship was held separately on 1 August. It was not an additional round in either of the NXL professional points tables.[1][15]

Playing formats

Five-player X-Ball

The event registration records specified the following standard X-Ball match lengths and mercy limits:[2][4][6]

Division	Match time	Mercy limit
Professional	15 minutes	Six-point lead
WNXL professional	15 minutes	Five-point lead
Semi-Professional and Division 2	15 minutes	Five-point lead
Divisions 3 and 4	12 minutes	Four-point lead
Division 5	10 minutes	Three-point lead

The professional final at Tampa used a different format: two ten-minute halves separated by an eight-minute interval. Contemporary reporting by Dynasty coach Mike Bianca documented the change.[13]

Professional three-player X-Ball

Professional three-player X-Ball was contested at the Midwest Open, Lone Star Open and World Cup. The Midwest and Lone Star registration records specified seven-minute matches; World Cup specified seven-minute matches with a three-point mercy limit.[4][5][6]

This competition had its own results and season standings. It was separate from the conventional three-player divisions, whose event registration records specified three-minute games.[1][4]

Other divisions

The programme also included conventional five-player competition, amateur ten-player competition, Classic five-player and seven-player divisions, women's amateur competition and youth divisions. Their availability varied between events.[2][3][4][5][6]

World Cup offered additional categories, including Masters X-Ball, the Commander's Cup, Veterans International X-Ball, Classic Mounds ten-player competition, and open and amateur three-player X-Ball.[6][11]

Professional five-player competition

PaintballFIT won the opening two events. Red Legion won the Midwest Open, Edmonton Impact won the Lone Star Open, and Tampa Bay Damage won World Cup.[7][8][9][10][11]

Event	Winner	Runner-up
Tampa Bay Open	PaintballFIT	San Diego Dynasty
Atlantic City Open	PaintballFIT	TonTon FSU
Midwest Open	Red Legion	TonTon FSU
Lone Star Open	Edmonton Impact	San Antonio X-Factor
World Cup	Tampa Bay Damage	PaintballFIT

PaintballFIT secured the season championship despite finishing second to Damage at World Cup. The leading three teams in the final points table were:[1][12]

Position	Team	Points
1	PaintballFIT	1,052
2	Red Legion	984
3	San Antonio X-Factor	937

World Cup's registration programme included a four-team Championship professional group alongside the other professional entrants.[6]

Professional three-player competition

San Antonio X-Factor won the first national professional three-player event at the Midwest Open. San Diego Dynasty won at Lone Star, and Tampa Bay Damage won World Cup.[9][10][11]

Event	Winner	Runner-up
Midwest Open	San Antonio X-Factor	Edmonton Impact
Lone Star Open	San Diego Dynasty	PaintballFIT
World Cup	Tampa Bay Damage	Edmonton Impact

Edmonton Impact won the three-event season championship without winning an individual round.[1]

Position	Team	Points
1	Edmonton Impact	670
2	Tampa Bay Damage	636
3	San Diego Dynasty	633

WNXL competition

Professional WNXL competition took place at Tampa, the Midwest Open and World Cup.[7][9][11]

Event	Winner	Runner-up
Tampa Bay Open	Femmes Fatale	New Jersey High Rollers
Midwest Open	Heroines	Femmes Fatale
World Cup	Heroines	Dallas Vibe

The Heroines won both World Cup and the professional season championship. Women's amateur five-player and women's three-player competition were recorded separately from the professional WNXL division.[1][11][12]

Divisional event results

The following tables record event winners as named in the individual PBLeagues results. These names can differ from those subsequently displayed in the season standings.[7][8][9][10][11]

Divisional X-Ball

Division	Tampa Bay	Atlantic City	Midwest	Lone Star	World Cup
Semi-Professional	tppcrew	Preferred mob	BR Factory	Los Angeles Collision	New York Wrecking Crew
Division 2	Immortal Effect	Rejects	New York BRAVE	Noobies	Rejects
Division 3	New Jersey Filthy	AG Knights	New Jersey Filthy	PTN	NR FACTORY
Division 4	Gunnerz	Filthy	Smoke Red	Protocol	Ohio Outlaws
Division 5	Protocol	Protocol	S.N.A.F.U. 2	LAXtreme	Protocol D5

Conventional five-player competition

Division	Tampa Bay	Atlantic City	Midwest	Lone Star	World Cup
Division 3	Panda Express Elite	NMI	WPG Konvicts	Papeletto	NMI
Division 4	Magic City Steel	Quebec Paintball	Magic City Vulcans	ColdBlooded	FZR
Division 5	Ragtag D5	New York Khaos	New York Khaos	TexeCutioners by PBGateway	Tampa Bay Exile
Youth / Youth Advanced	Hydra Kidz	Hydra Kidz	Filthy Kids	—	Filthy Kids
Women's amateur	Protocol XX	NJ High Rollers	Dallas Dolls	Dallas Dolls	NJ High Rollers

The Atlantic City women's five-player result was listed without season points. World Cup also included Youth Beginner five-player competition, won by YPL Allstars.[8][11]

Ten-player and Classic competition

Division	Tampa Bay	Atlantic City	Midwest	Lone Star	World Cup
Amateur ten-player	Smoke	PHILIPPINES	LockDown OGs	CRBN	Smoke
Classic seven-player	Image	Image	Doc's Raiders	PHILIPPINES	Image
Classic five-player	Image	Image	Aftershock	Papeletto Team	Aftershock

An additional Open ten-player division at Atlantic City was won by Annapolis A-Team. NXS won the Classic Mounds Open ten-player division at World Cup.[8][11]

Conventional three-player competition

Division	Tampa Bay	Atlantic City	Midwest	Lone Star	World Cup
Amateur	Doc's Raiders	Sinners	Doc's Raiders	ColdBlooded	The Lost Boys
Intermediate	NFO NEW YORK	Pony Princess	NFO NEW YORK	Destiny Space City	PR1ME CATS
Novice	Alliance	Shooting Blanks	KYF Kidz	Texas Easy Company	2 Slow 2 Bunker
Youth	TCP Micro Machine	—	TCP Micro Machine	—	Iron kids
Women's	—	—	Dallas Dolls 3v3 1	—	VXNS

A dash indicates that no result was listed for that category in the event results consulted.[7][8][9][10][11]

Additional World Cup winners

World Cup's additional results included Aftershock in Masters X-Ball, Marines in the Commander's Cup, Veteran Militia in Veterans International X-Ball, Wyldside Distortion in Open three-player X-Ball, Panda Express Elite in Amateur three-player X-Ball, and NXS in conventional Open three-player competition.[11]

Divisional season champions

Season titles were determined by the relevant points standings rather than by the World Cup result alone. Divisional standings applied different limits on counting results and dropped scores.[1]

Division	Season champion
Semi-Professional X-Ball	Jungle Cats
Division 2 X-Ball	Noobies
Division 3 X-Ball	NR FACTORY
Division 4 X-Ball	Gunnerz
Division 5 X-Ball	Protocol D5
Amateur ten-player	Smoke
Classic Mounds Open seven-player	Image
Classic Mounds Open five-player	Aftershock
Division 3 five-player	NMI
Division 4 five-player	JakkBoyz
Division 5 five-player	Tampa Bay Exile
Youth Advanced five-player	Filthy Kids
WNXL Amateur five-player	NJ High Rollers
Women's three-player	Dallas Dolls 3v3 1
Amateur three-player	Doc's Raiders
Intermediate three-player	Nomadz
Novice three-player	Hasbeens D5
Youth three-player	Shenanikids

Promotion and relegation

Jungle Cats won the Semi-Professional season championship and earned a professional place for 2026. The programme appeared as BR Factory in the Midwest event results; coach Mike Bianca subsequently confirmed that the team had won the Semi-Professional series and professional place in 2025.[9][18]

NRG Elite were relegated following the season. Contemporary reporting subsequently documented NRG owner Alan Bufton's acquisition of Houston Heat, a separate ownership transaction following the relegation.[19]

ESPN coverage and the MLPB championship

The 2025 MLPB Pro 3v3 World Championship took place on 1 August at The Stadium at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Walt Disney World. The four entrants were Edmonton Impact, PaintballFIT, Red Legion and San Diego Dynasty.[15]

The organiser described qualification as being for the current top four NXL professional season-ranked teams. The event was broadcast live on ESPN2 at 10:00 Eastern Time as part of ESPN8: The Ocho programming.[14][16]

The televised format used ten-minute three-player X-Ball matches on a 120-by-100-foot field. Each player began a point with one hopper and two pods. The clock ran between points until the final 30 seconds; tied matches proceeded to a 30-second sudden-death one-on-one, with the fastest regulation point used if neither player was eliminated.[14]

Edmonton Impact defeated San Diego Dynasty in the final.[17] This standalone championship was distinct from Impact's NXL professional three-player season title.[1][15]

References

External links