The United Football League, or UFL, is a league that was created as a result of the recent merger between the XFL and USFL. Previous versions of the UFL lasted from 1961-1964 and 2009-2012. The new version of the league is expected to begin play in March of 2024 and will have eight teams. Participants in the league include former NFL players and others who are looking to make a career in American football.
Other UFL Leagues
Although this XFL-USFL merger is different from other attempts, this isn't the first time that the UFL has tried to carve out its place in professional football. The UFL which lasted from 1961-1964 also included eight teams. It also was the first football league to hold teams in both the United States and Canada.
Although the league drew some interest, it ultimately did not last past the 1964 season. Nevertheless, it displayed that other leagues could be formed and find brief success. Another attempt to create a UFL came to fruition in 2009. However, it did not have eight teams like the 1961-1964 and 2024 leagues. Instead, the most teams the 2009-2012 league had was five. The league failed to make it past 2012.
The new version of the UFL should capitalize on the previous attempts. They can learn from the prior versions and understand what both leagues did well and what could have been improved.
Teams, Conferences, and More
The league will be broken into two conferences, the USFL conference and XFL conference.
The teams in the USFL conference include the Birmingham Stallions, Michigan Panthers, Memphis Showboats and Houston Roughnecks.
The XFL will include Arlington Renegades, San Antonio Brahmas, DC Defenders and St. Louis Battlehawks.
There are no teams on the West Coast yet. However, if the league finds success, it will likely attempt to expand.
How Long is the Season?
The UFL is set to have a 10-game regular season, with the first contest of the year scheduled for March 30, 2024 in a clash between the USFL champions Birmingham Stallions and XFL champion Arlington Renegades, per UFL.com
The UFL will also have a training camp in Arlington which began Feb. 24, including informal scrimmages that started March 9. This will serve as a preseason for the players and allow the coaches to formulate their plans for the season.
Who are the Coaches?
The league also announced the coaches, which was shared by both ESPN and the XFL websites.
Skip Holtz (Stallions), Mike Nolan (Panthers), Curtis Johnson (Roughnecks), and John DeFilippo (Showboats) are the coaches in the USFL conference. Wade Phillips (Brahmas), Reggie Barlow (Defenders), Bob Stoops (Renegades), and Anthony Becht (Battlehawks) are the XFL conference coaches.
Some of these coaches have NFL experience as head coaches, such as Wade Phillips. It will be interesting to see how each of these coaches adapt to the UFL and potentially adjust their game plans. Although football is obviously a game where some things will always be the same regardless of level, coaching in the UFL will be different than in the NFL or college football.
Why did the XFL and USFL Merge?
The XFL and USFL have both made efforts over the past few years to create successful leagues. Of course, they understand that competing with the NFL on equal footing is probably out of the question. Regardless, both leagues served as alternatives for the NFL.
Ultimately, the leagues decided to come together and form one version of their football, which ended up becoming the UFL. Combining their teams should pay dividends, as it was unlikely that both would thrive while competing with each other.
Football fans will have something to watch after the Super Bowl with the UFL set to begin in March. It will take time to develop a passionate fanbase, but if the UFL is able to maintain its league for multiple seasons in a row, the future could be bright.
Of course, it will still be competing with other popular North American sports such as the NBA, MLB and NHL. Nevertheless, football fans will probably tune in to at least check out this new league.
What to Expect
It is unfair to compare the UFL to the NFL. Fans shouldn't expect to watch superstar NFL-caliber play. With that said, the UFL will still feature players with either NFL experience or NFL potential.
In the end, it's still a professional football league. There should be plenty of impressive performances from talented players, and I would expect the league to be a lot of fun. These players are thankful to have another opportunity to play football at a high level, and they will not take it for granted. Winning the UFL championship will mean something to the players, coaches and teams.
My primary recommendation to the UFL would be to be open to changes if necessary. If they want to last longer than other leagues before them, being flexible will be of the utmost importance.
There is potential for the UFL to be successful. Again, passionate football fans will want to watch some form of the sport after the NFL and college seasons come to an end. The UFL's March start date will give fans exactly that opportunity.
Why Should You Watch the UFL?
I could sit here and convince you that the UFL is worth watching. Instead, however, I'll let Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson pitch the league to you. Johnson recently appeared on ESPN and made his pitch to fans, via the United Football League on YouTube.
"The sell for the fans is going to be just exciting football, passionate football, hard-nosed football," Johnson said on ESPN College Gameday. "But also, we've talked about this before, I gotta say it. 53 men on an NFL roster. I was always number 54. The chip that I put on my shoulder is the same chip that all these players have.
"Every play matters, they got one shot. So imagine if you're number 54, someone comes along and says, 'You got a shot. You want to make it to the NFL? You got a shot now to continue to develop, to continue to expand your game-tape and your experience and let's do it in the UFL."
