USFL And XFL Officially Merge To Revive the United Football League
The inaugural season of the new league made of two revived leagues begins in March
Happy new year everyone! What better way to kick it off than exploring two major entertainment moves in fields that I don’t usually cover? Two competing spring football leagues not in their first iteration, the XFL and the United States Football League (USFL) have officially merged to become the United Football League (UFL), bringing that league to its third iteration. The merging leagues will lend their names to the respective conferences within. The leagues announced their intent to merge on September 28 and was approved by federal regulators on November 30.
Dwayne Johnson and his business partner Dany Garcia, who rescued the XFL when it hit bankruptcy after COVID messed up its inaugural revival season in 2020, appeared on Fox NFL Sunday to officially announce the name of the new league, and that its inaugural season will begin March 30, 2024. The season-opening game will be between the Arlington Renegades and Birmingham Stallions, the respective leagues’ last champions. The Renegades’ head coach has been revealed to be Bob Stoops, and the Stallions will be led by Skip Holtz. The league has six other teams: the USFL Conference’s Houston Roughnecks with head coach Curtis Johnson, the Memphis Showboats with John DeFilippo, and the Michigan Panthers with head coach Mike Nolan, and the XFL conference’s D.C. Defenders with head coach Reggie Barlow, the San Antonio Brahmas with head coach Wade Phillips, and the St. Louis Battlehawks with head coach Anthony Becht.
Yeah this isn’t a very westerly league. No one beyond Texas and the Central time zone. Training camp begins February 24 in Arlington, Texas, which were XFL training grounds last season. The regular season will last 10 games, broadcast on ABC, ESPN, Fox, and FS1, maintaining both former leagues’ partnerships. Russ Brandon, the former president and CEO of the XFL, will take on those roles in the UFL, while Daryl Johnston, who was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys in his playing career, had been USFL President of Football Operations, and will serve the UFL similarly.
“We wanted to join forces for a few reasons,” Johnson, the actor and wrestler whose athletic career began as a University of Miami defensive tackle, said. “No. 1, to grow the game of football — it’s a game we all love — and to create opportunities for players … and also to deliver for the fans.” He would add “If you think about it, this is 30 years of spring football starting and stopping, starting and stopping,” he added, “so with this merger … it feels like we’ve got a shot to establish that spring football is here to stay.” Indeed, the first two United Football Leagues lasted from 1961 to 1964 and 2009 to 2012, and the original USFL played from 1983 to 1985, and the XFL missed 2021 and 2022 due to its restructuring. Maybe they’ll finally have spring football right this time.
