Finally, the new United States Football League is here! Here's everything you need to know about the new USFL: How many teams will be in the league? How will the league be formatted? There will be eight teams in the new USFL, split into two divisions: North and South. Each team will play a 10-game schedule, with teams in the same division playing each other twice and teams in the other division once. The top two teams in each division will play against each other in the semifinals followed a week later by the championship game. What are the teams? In the North, the USFL will have the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers. The Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits will make up the South Division. When will the season begin? The 2022 USFL regular season will begin April 16 and run through mid-June, followed by the playoffs. The first game will feature the Generals against the Stallions and will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 16. That game will air on both FOX and NBC, making it the first scheduled sporting event to air on competing broadcast networks since Super Bowl I in 1967, which was shown on both CBS and NBC. "The first game played in any new league is itself historical, and having the USFL’s inaugural game simulcast by NBC and FOX makes it even more so," said FOX Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks. "It’s rare when two competitors can come together and see how cooperation can lead to long-term benefit." Tickets for the inaugural game are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for kids under the age of 15. Details about tickets for other games will be announced shortly. What will the uniforms look like? Click here to see all of the uniforms. Where will regular-season games be played? In the inaugural season of the USFL, all eight teams will play in Birmingham Alabama, at both Protective Stadium and Legion Field. "Birmingham is one of America's most dynamic and welcoming cities with world-class facilities highlighted by the state-of-the-art Protective Stadium, now home to the USFL," said Edward Hartman, USFL Executive Vice President, Business Operations. "Located downtown, it's within walking distance to the hotels where players will reside and many other amenities. We can't wait to make football magic in The Magic City on April 16, when the hometown Stallions take on the Generals to kick off the inaugural USFL season." Where will postseason games be played? USFL playoff games will be played in Canton, Ohio, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, a 20,000-seat facility adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The semifinal contests will be held Saturday, June 25, featuring the top two teams in each division. The USFL Championship Game will be played Sunday, July 3. "We’re excited to play our first playoffs and championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium," said Edward Hartman, USFL Executive Vice President, Business Operations. "It’s a beautiful stadium with all the facilities necessary to host football at the highest level, and we look forward to crowning our first champion in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame." Are there rule changes? The USFL has officially unveiled a few changes to the traditional football rules, designed to bolster offense and big-play potential, improve game flow, give trailing teams more scoring opportunities as time winds down, enhance player safety, and get officiating calls right in a way that’s fair for both teams. These include potential 3-point conversions after touchdowns, changes to onside kicks and overtime, the ability for an offense to complete two forward passes on a single play, and more. Click here to see the complete modifications. Can I bet on the USFL? USFL wagering is legal in 27 states and Washington, D.C. (click here for the full list). You can see the Week 1 lines here, the odds to win the championship for every team here, and find out how sportsbooks are setting lines on a brand-new league here — then head over to our three simple rules for betting on the USFL from former NFL player Geoff Schwartz. Who will call the games? For FOX Sports, the complete 2022 USFL broadcast team will be led by Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Curt Menefee alongside analyst Joel Klatt, the network’s longtime lead college football analyst. Play-by-play announcer Kevin Kugler and analyst Mark Sanchez also contribute to FOX Sports’ USFL coverage. Analyst Brock Huard also weighs in from the sidelines in select USFL matchups. Who are the USFL head coaches? They are: Skip Holtz, Birmingham Stallions; Kirby Wilson, Pittsburgh Maulers; Mike Riley, New Jersey Generals; Todd Haley, Tampa Bay Bandits; Bart Andrus, Philadelphia Stars; Jeff Fisher, Michigan Panthers; Larry Fedora, New Orleans Breakers; and Kevin Sumlin, Houston Gamblers. What about mascots? Oh, you better believe we have mascots. Can I watch the games outside of the United States? The USFL will be broadcast in over 130 countries. For a full list and more information, click here. Who will oversee the new USFL? Brian Woods, the founder and CEO of The Spring League from 2017 to 2021 and a co-founder of the new USFL, will serve as the league's President of Football Operations. Three-time Super Bowl champion and former Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl "Moose" Johnston will serve as Executive Vice President of Football Operations. Joining the new USFL as Head of Officiating is former NFL Vice President of Officiating and FOX Sports' NFL and College Football Rules analyst Mike Pereira. And FOX Sports’ Edward Hartman will serve as Executive Vice President of Business Operations. "We are extremely fortunate to have this extraordinary team of experienced executives to guide the new USFL's development as we move toward launch this spring," Shanks said. What about the officials? The USFL will employ 35 officials, 32 of whom are members of the NFL's Officiating Development Program that provides opportunities for college-level officials who are ready to advance to professional football.The USFL will have five crews of seven officials (referee, umpire, down judge, line judge, field judge, side judge, back judge), with two crews each working two games on any given weekend. Strong backgrounds in College Football are represented as 33 of the 35 USFL officials have worked in Power Five Conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, and SEC). The all-inclusive USFL officials’ roster is also noteworthy, including 16 people of color and four women.
The eight teams of the rebooted USFL will carry the names of the original octet of franchises from 1983. Only one of them will be geographically accurate. The Birmingham Stallions will play their home games in Birmingham. The rest of the league also will play their home games in Birmingham. Via Roy S. Johnson of AL.com, USFL officials acknowledged earlier this week that, on January 25, the Fox-owned venture will announce that all 43 games for 2022 will be played in Birmingham, Alabama. The approach eliminates all travel costs, an important consideration given that the primary purpose of the games will be to put them on TV, and to use them as the impetus for legal gambling in the states that allow it. Where the games will be played doesn’t matter. Whether anyone attends the games doesn’t matter. What matters is that, after football season ends, gamblers will have football games on which to wager.
The U in USFL could easily stand for unique. The United States Football League is different from the other pro gridiron franchise associations that have come to Birmingham. For starters, all of this league calls the Magic City its home. Gene Hallman, CEO of the Alabama Sports Foundation, said the USFL provides a tremendous opportunity for the Birmingham community. “A professional football league has never before played its regular season, in its entirety, in one city,” he said. “We have a platform for a national television audience multiple times every weekend, over half of which are network TV. We have a huge economic impact with all these players and coaches staying in our hotels and eating in our restaurants.” Some out-of-town fans will visit, although their number is unknown. “But there’s clearly a fan base that’s growing in each of these markets,” Hallman said. “You can see it on the various message boards and the league fan boards where there’s already chatter among the cities about their team and their chances for success. This feels so much different than the previous leagues we’ve had in town.” Alabama Sports Foundation was engaged with the past two pro football leagues and those were not good experiences, Hallman said. “We were left being owed money with the last one,” he said of the Alliance of American Football. “This (USFL) has the appropriate resources, the professionalism, and you can clearly tell they’re in it for the long term.” Television, or a lack of it, was often a challenge for prior leagues in which Birmingham teams played. This version of the USFL is on much more sound footing. “There’s no doubt that the league is sound, solid and in it for the long term,” Hallman said. “Here, you’ve got NBC and Fox at the forefront, and they’re devoting network television to more than 50 percent of the games and the other games will be on cable television nationally. “There is an appetite for television viewing of spring football,” he continued. “Everything about this business plan checks all the boxes and indicates that, with some time as we move through this season and the subsequent seasons, that this is the recipe needed for success.” The Birmingham Stallions will face the New Jersey Generals Saturday at Protective Stadium with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. The game airs on NBC and Fox. A tripleheader follows at the stadium on Sunday. The Houston Gamblers face the Michigan Panthers at 11 a.m. on NBC, the Philadelphia Stars square off with the New Orleans Breakers at 3 p.m. on USA and the Tampa Bay Bandits meet the Pittsburgh Maulers at 7 p.m. on FS1. To learn more and for ticket information, visit theusfl.com. Ticket sales are going very well for the first game, Hallman said, and ticket prices, by design, are extremely affordable at $10 a ticket with children age 15 and younger admitted free. “This is designed for people that want to partake of a football smorgasbord,” he said. “A game ticket is good for all day and we allow passouts. You can buy one ticket for Sunday, this Sunday, and there are three football games and you can come and go as you please among those three games with one ticket. “The concept behind the ticket pricing is to make it very affordable so that people come often,” the ASF CEO said. “Not only will the football be entertaining, but the game’s run-of-show itself will be highly entertaining. A lot of thought and effort have gone into what happens during timeouts, what happens at halftime.” The Miles College band – the Purple Marching Machine – is performing at halftime of the first game and an Easter egg hunt is scheduled Sunday morning. Hallman said the USFL provides “something for everybody.” There is a Kid Zone play area for young children. Additionally, there will be giveaways for the first number of fans on certain nights. And there will be theme nights, from NASCAR night when drivers are in Talladega or a WWE night when the wrestlers are nearby and perhaps an Atlanta Braves night. Hallman anticipates on-field football play will be top-notch as well, as the league features an impressive list of coaches, including Jeff Fisher, Skip Holtz, Mike Riley, Kevin Sumlin and Bart Andrus. While the league will use conventional football rules, it will feature some unique twists, including the option of a three-point conversion after a touchdown and modifications to kickoffs and pass interference. |