The Lingerie Football League had a setback in its plans to place a franchise in Oklahoma City for the 2011 season.  Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett told the media November 11th that he would not allow the league to operate a Lingerie Football team in his city. Period.

The Lingerie Football League, for those not familiar with it, is a professional women’s football league that operates in ten U.S. cities.  The teams have names like the San Diego Seduction, Dallas Desire, Philadelphia Passion, and Chicago Bliss.  Games are played indoors, and the rules are somewhat similar to other indoor football leagues.  There are seven players on each side, (no, there is no “tight end” position) and it is full contact tackle football.  Oh, did I mention the uniforms are a little different than most football leagues?

The players wear shoulder pads, elbow pads, knee pads, and helmets just like regular football, although the helmets look more like hockey helmets.  Oh yeah, and they also wear panties, bras, and garters.  In appropriate team colors.  No jerseys. Or pants. 

Here’s some highlights from a game between the Seattle Mist and the San Diego Seduction:

Well now, that’s a little different than seeing 300 pound linemen smashing into each other isn’t it?  Though this is obviously using sex to sell a product (just like everything else these days) to be fair, these women are playing pretty intense football, and with (obviously) not a whole lot of protective equipment.  And as far as the uniforms go, they are no more revealing than what was seen at the Olympic beach volleyball competition. It could be argued that a women’s professional football league would be taken more seriously if they wore regular uniforms, but that’s been done and hasn’t caught on either.

Lingerie Football League chairman Mitchell Mortaza expressed disappointment at Cornett’s decision, saying that Oklahomans should be able to “choose for themselves and not [be] dictated to” and that their plans were for “expansion into Oklahoma City, not North Korea”.

The folks in Oklahoma City and elsewhere can see some games on television on MTV.  The 2011 Lingerie Bowl will be held in Las Vegas on February 11, 2011 during halftime of the Super Bowl.  After the Janet Jackson flap at the Super Bowl a few years ago, don’t look for the Lingerie Bowl to be the halftime entertainment on site at the Super Bowl anytime soon.