The United Football League is a professional American football minor league that started play in March. The league was created following the XFL–United States Football League (USFL) merger of the latest incarnations of the XFL and United States Football League.
The UFL consists of eight teams separated by two conferences: the USFL conference and the XFL conference. Teams playing in the USFL are the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers. Teams in the XFL side of the league are the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and the St. Louis Battlehawks. “The UFL’s 10-game regular season will start on Saturday, March 30, 2024, with a battle of the 2023 champions: Birmingham Stallions (USFL) vs Arlington Renegades (XFL),” according to the UFL’s website.
The XFL was created and led by WWE head Vince McMahon and played its first season in 2001 but shut down before a second season could begin. It was revived by McMahon in 2018 to begin play in 2020 with the goal of producing football with fewer distractions and delays than what was being offered by the NFL. The seasons were planned to run from February to May, a 10-game regular season followed by the playoffs. After five weeks, however, the COVID-19 pandemic ended any shot at success. The league filed for bankruptcy in April 2020.
Actor and former player Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson stepped in and, along with business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, led a consortium to buy the XFL for a reported $15 million. The XFL began play again in February 2023 as a football minor league. In late September 2023, it announced plans to merge with the USFL. “It’s pretty cool how the Rock bought out this league because I know of him as a famous actor and wrestler, which to me is pretty cool,” sophomore Grant McGraw said.
The first version of the USFL, the original United States Football League, had star power to rival the NFL, but a fateful decision led to its undoing. Three Heisman Trophy winners in a row; Georgia’s Herschel Walker (1982), Nebraska’s Mike Rozier (1983) and Boston College’s Doug Flutie (1984) – signed with the USFL rather than joining the NFL. The USFL played three seasons during the spring and summer, 1983-85, but decided to try to take on the NFL. Led by New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump, a vote was taken and a decision was made to play the 1986 season in the fall, directly competing with the NFL. The main hope for the USFL stakeholders was to force a merger with the NFL.
As the USFL legal teams went through the process of the court fight, they filed an antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986. The USFL won, technically, but was awarded only a $1 judgment that became $3 (tripled because it fell under antitrust laws). There was no merger, nor was there a 1986 USFL season. Overall, the venture was reported to have cost the USFL more than $160 million. A reincarnation of the USFL, owned by Fox Sports, competed in 2022 and 2023 with its eight teams retaining the branding of its 1980s predecessor. “I’ve heard about the USFL before and how it competed with the NFL in the past but never understood how they thought it could overthrow the NFL,” sophomore Nathan Zweig said.
