By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A national seven-on-seven women’s football league backed by NFL Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka will take over the BMO Harris Bank Center for one game this summer.

The Chicago Blitz will debut against the Seattle Thunder in the Extreme Football League, or X League, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, ASM Global announced Tuesday.

“With only one home game in 2022, the game will sell out,” ASM wrote in a news release.

Related: BMO Harris Bank Center ends mandatory masking

Tickets go on-sale nationally at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 15  at Ticketmaster.com, in-person at the BMO Harris Bank Center box office and by phone at 815-968-5222.

Ditka, a Hall-of-Fame tight end for the Chicago Bears who later coached the team to its only Super Bowl victory, is the owner and chairman of X League. The league, which formed in November 2019 but had its debut delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, has an eight team roster.

The eight teams are: Kansas City Force, Atlanta Empire, Austin Sound, Chicago Blitz, Denver Rush, Los Angeles Black Storm, Omaha Red Devils and Seattle Thunder.

The seven-on-seven full contact tackle football league is played on a 70-yard field.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its previous version to clarify that X League is a newly incorporated women’s football league. The Extreme Football League filed its article of organization in November 2019.