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Spring football is undergoing another change.
The XFL and USFL announced Sunday that they will merge to form the United Football League.
The eight-team UFL includes five teams from the XFL: the DC Defenders (who will play their home games at Audi Field), Arlington (Tex.), Renegades (Choctaw Stadium), Houston Roughnecks (home location to be determined) and San Antonio Brahmas (Alamodome) and the St. Louis Battlehawks (The Dome at America's Center). Three teams will be from the USFL: the Birmingham (Ala.) Stallions (Protective Stadium), Memphis Showboats (Liberty Stadium) and Michigan Panthers (Ford Field), a person familiar with the situation confirmed.
The Defenders feel right at home with the “best fan base in the XFL.”
That means the XFL's Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers and the USFL's Houston Gamblers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers will not be part of the UFL for the 2024 season. There is no official word yet on a dispersal draft of players who were under contract with these teams.
The UFL begins on Saturday, March 30, with a match between the Renegades and Stallions – the defending champions of the now-defunct leagues. The UFL will use the XFL's hub model, with all teams training in Arlington, Texas and traveling to play in their home markets while playing a 10-game schedule with two semifinal playoff games and a neutral championship game play, the person confirms.
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Russ Brandon, the former XFL president and CEO, will lead the UFL in the same capacity, and Daryl Johnston, the former USFL president of football operations, will lead football operations.
“From day one, our mission has been to grow football and be a league full of opportunity, culture and innovation,” XFL co-owner Dwayne Johnson said in a written statement. “When we come together to form the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans – a spring league with lasting impact for all players who dream of playing professional football and the 'hardest workers in the room.' “ Mentality to make your dreams come true.”
The XFL was founded in 2001 under then World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon. Things worked out after one season before McMahon revived the league for the 2020 season. The league only lasted five games until the league was forced to suspend operations in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. McMahon sold the league in August for $15 million to Johnson, Dany Garcia – Johnson's business partner and ex-wife – and investment firm RedBird Capital Partners.
The first edition of the USFL (1983-1985) was the first spring football league to be viewed as a legitimate competitor to the NFL, attracting players such as Herschel Walker, Reggie White, Steve Young, Doug Flutie and Jim Kelly to the NFL to sign league out of college. The USFL was re-established in 2021.
There were also two previous versions of the UFL, one from 1961 to 1964 and a second from 2009 to 2012.
Despite the ongoing merry-go-round in spring leagues, current UFL leadership is confident that this new alliance will move football forward.
“This new endeavor is possible because of a shared visionary mindset, a deep passion for the game and first-hand experience of living and creating the opportunities that football makes possible,” Garcia wrote in a statement. “As a unified spring league, we are positioned to deepen our commitment to achieving and exceeding the dreams of our players, coaches, staff and fans.”