United Football League simulation Wiki

The **United Football League** (UFL) is a professional American Football minor league scheduled to start play in March of 2024. The league was created following the merger of the XFL and USFL.

## Background

In 2018, the rumors of XFL being made again was looking very likely. It was then confirmed in 2018 that the XFL would return in February 2020. The AFF would of kicked off in 2019. However the XFL did not make the same mistakes as the AAF did. The AAF was established in 2018 but were already planning to play games as soon as confirmed to play. The XFL however, would give it time to get broadcasting partners, money, teams, coaches, stadiums ect. It was confirmed the season would start on February 8th 2020, 6 days following Super Bowl LIV. The league released their schedule on January 6th 2020 with the DC Defenders hosting the Seattle Dragons in the season opener. All teams would travel to Houston for training camp, which begun on January 2nd and ended on February 3rd. In 2022, It was confirmed the XFL would return. Sxm Sports made a statement about it. They confirmed the teams on October 31st 2022, out of the 8 2020 XFL Teams, only 5 of them stuck around for 2023. The season begins on February 18th 2023. The league added the original XFL 2001 champions Orlando Rage to replace New York Guardians, former NFL team Houston Oilers to replace Houston Roughnecks (though this could only be for the 2023 season as they only have a 1 year lease on NRG Stadium) and the San Antonio Tigers, replacing the Los Angeles Wildcats.The 2023 XFL Season kicked off on February 18th 2023, starting with the Houston Oilers at Frisco Renegades at Toyota Stadium. It ended with the Renegades winning 28-27. Week 1 also saw DC Defenders beat the Tampa Bay Vipers 31-21, the San Antonio Tigers beating the Seattle Dragons 38-12 and the Battlehawks defeating the Rage 22-19. In Week 10, 3 of the 4 playoff births were clinched, with 2 in the East, after DC and St Louis finished 8-2. In the West, the Tigers clinched playoff birth at 7-2, the Dragons were 6-4, and the Renegades were 5-4 going into the final game. The final game was Tigers at Renegades. With roughly 6 seconds left, it was Tigers 22 Renegades 21, with Renegades having a chance to kick the game winning field goal, but missed, and meant that the Tigers finished 8-2 and Renegades finished 5-5, and also meant Dragons clinched a playoff birth. The Renegades had tiebreaker over Dragons so if they won they would clinch a playoff birth. The Playoffs begun on April 29 beginning with the 8-2 Battlehawks at 8-2 Defenders, for the East Division Championship, both had the same record, but DC had H2H tie breaker, which was 2-0. The game ended 30-30 and going into OT, it finished 38-36 Battlehawks. The next day, April 30, saw the 6-4 Dragons at 8-2 Tigers and ended in a 34-18 win for the Tigers which meant they move on to the Championship. The 2023 XFL Championship saw the Battlehawks beat the Tigers 41-39.

In June 2021, it was confirmed the USFL will return with 8 teams divided into 2 divisions. The playoffs would have 4 teams with top 2 each division playing in playoffs for the USFL Championship. They confirmed the league would begin play in April 2022. In 2021, it was confirmed FOX and NBC would be official broadcasters of the USFL with their own networks also broadcasting games, for FOX it would be US1 and FS1 and for NBC it would be Peacock.In January 2022, it was confirmed that the league would play its entirety in Birmingham and play the playoffs in Canton. It was also confirmed that Protective Stadium and Legion Field would host regular season games. Also, the head coaches for each team were confirmed in January. In February 2022, the first USFL draft took place with 12 rounds and a supplemental draft to fill out their 45 man roster. In March 2022, the 2022 USFL schedule was released by FOX and NBC. The first game took place on April 16, 2022 at Protective Stadium between the Birmingham Stallions and the Michigan Panthers. The Season completed in mid June 2022 and the playoffs begun in late June 2022 and the Championship was in early July 2023. After what was a great 2022 season, the league confirmed they would return in 2023. They also confirmed that there will be 2-4 hubs instead of just 1 hub. On November 16th 2022, the USFL confirmed that the Memphis Snowboats would replace the Tampa Bay Bandits for the 2023 Season. However, USFL said that the team was going on ''hiatus'' for 2023 and will not fold fully. The 2023 season saw the Stallions beat the Stars 30-24 to win back to back titles.

In September 2023, there was speculation that the USFL and XFL would merge, and on 26th September, both leagues announced their intention to merge. Many thought that they would agree before the 2024 season, but on the 6th October 2023, the XFL confirmed that their 2024 season will go ahead by themselves, so the USFL merger would not take place in 2024.

On the 26th October 2023, there was a leak that 12 teams would take place in the new league, with the list allegedly being DC Defenders, Seattle Dragons, St Louis Battlehawks, Frisco Renegades, San Antonio Tigers, Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers. However on 4th November 2023, there was another leak that there would only be 10 teams, denying the rumor.

On 31st December 2023, the league was officially announced as the United Football League and confirmed the two leagues merged.

## Teams

16 Teams will participate in the league for the 2024 season. 6 teams came from the XFL and 8 teams came from the USFL. A former USFL team, Tampa Bay Bandits, will also participate in the league. The Houston Roughnecks roster will be the Houston Gambler's team for the 2024 season.

On 1st January 2024, the league confirmed that the 16 teams will be split into the USFL and XFL conferences, and each confernece had a North and South Division.

## Broadcasting

In the USA, the broadcasting rights will be held by FOX and Sxm Sports. NBC Sports, who had a contract to broadcast the USFL until 2024, opted not to broadcast in 2024 due to conflict in scheduling.

## References

1. ↑ XFL and USFL to merge and begin to play in 2024
2. ↑ XFL to relaunch in 2020 - News
3. ↑ 2020 XFL Schedule: Dragons @ Defenders - Week 1
4. ↑ 2023 XFL Championship - Tigers 39 Battlehawks 41 - OT
5. ↑ 2023 USFL Championship - Panthers 33 Stallions 36 - Final
6. ↑ 2023 USFL Championship - Stallions 30 Stars 24 - Game Review
7. ↑ XFL-USFL Merger: 12 teams or 10 teams? Current leaks
8. ↑ XFL-USFL merger creates UFL
9. ↑ 16 teams to participate in the new league
10. ↑ Tampa Bay Bandits are back! Former USFL team to return to UFL in 2024
11. ↑ Houston Roughnecks to play in 2024, but not as the Roughnecks - USFL-XFL merger news
12. ↑ UFL: The Conferences and Division Breakdown
13. ↑ FOX and Sxm Sports to be broadcasters of possible new league in 2024
14. ↑ NBC to drop out of broadcasting USFL for 2024