MERGED: The USFL and XFL have merged into the UFL. (Getty Images)
Season tickets are on sale
The XFL and USFL have merged to create the United Football League (UFL) ushering in the latest incarnation of spring football, which kicks off March 30.
The newly configured league features eight teams split between two conferences – XFL, which launched in 2023 and USFL, which started play in 2022. The season begins with a matchup between the two 2023 individual league champs the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions and the XFL’s Arlington Renegades.
Teams and home fields for each conference include: the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions, Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama (cap 47,000); Memphis Showboats, Simmons Bark Liberty Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee (cap 58,000); Michigan Panthers, Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan (cap 65,000), which is the only venue shared with an NFL franchise; and the Houston Roughnecks, which was the only overlapping market between the leagues prior to the merger. A venue for the team has not been announced, but they will not be playing at TDECU Stadium while it undergoes construction.
The XFL conference teams include Arlington Renegades at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas (cap 25,000); DC Defenders at Audi Field, Washington, D.C. (cap 20,000); St. Louis Battlehawks at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri (cap 67,000); and the San Antonio Brahmas at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (cap 64,000).
Season tickets are on sale and FOX, Fox Sports 1, ABC and ESPN will broadcast the games.
The USFL is owned by National Spring Football League Enterprises, which was founded by Brian Woods and is a division of Fox Sports. An ownership group including Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnston and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners own the XFL.
Russ Brandon, former president and chief executive of the XFL will be the UFL president and chief executive. Daryl Johnson, former USFL president of football operations, will serve in the same capacity for the new league. Coaches are being announced and players have been drafted, while details of the merger are still being ironed out.
