2023 USFL Season

The 2023 USFL Season is planned was the second season of the revived USFL. The regular season season began on 15th April and will end on June 18th. The playoffs will begin on July 24th and end on July 1st with the 2023 USFL Championship. The league had 4 venues for the season in Birmingham, Memphis, Canton and Detroit.

## Location

The League has confirmed that the 2023 USFL Season will have two to four locations for 2023.

On November 16th 2022, it was confirmed that games will take place in Birmingham, like in 2022, and also in Memphis. However, the 2 hubs were only for South Teams. The hubs for the North are yet to be confirmed but possibilities are Detriot, Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

On 30th November 2022, it was confirmed that the USFL hub in Birmingham will play games at Protective Stadium. So on 15th April, the Birmingham Stallions will play at Protective Stadium. Also, it was confirmed that it is likely that games will take place in Detriot. No conformation yet though.

On 26th December 2022, the USFL confirmed that Ford Field will host the Michigan Panthers and another North team. They are expressing interest in another venue in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. However, they say that it may just be Ford Field for the North.

On 25th January 2023, The USFL confirmed that Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, who hosted the 2022 USFL Playoffs and 2022 USFL Championship, would host the New Jersey Generals and Pittsburgh Maulers for the 2023 Season. The league will make an announcement on 26th January 2023 regarding Ford Field.

On 26th January 2023, The USFL confirmed that Ford Field will be hosting the Michigan Panthers and the Philadelphia Stars. This was already confirmed but the hosts were not confirmed yet. The USFL also confirmed that Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium will host the North Championship and the 2023 USFL Championship.

On 6th February 2023, the USFL confirmed that Protective Stadium would be the site of the South Division Championship.

## Draft

*Main Article: 2023 USFL Draft*

The 2023 USFL Draft is planned to take place in February 2023. Despite the Maulers finishing 1-9 with the worst record in the league, the Stars will get the first overall pick because they beat the Maulers in Week 10 to prevent tanking.

## Teams

On November 16th, it was confirmed the Tampa Bay Bandits would go on hiatus for the 2023 USFL Season and be replaced by the Memphis Showboats. The other 7 teams though will still be the same. The Pittsburgh Maulers had a re brand from Purple to Black and Gold prior to the 2023 Season.

## Coaching Changes

 Pittsburgh Maulers

This will be Leo Troyven's first professional HC job. He has been an OC at Cleveland Browns from 2020-2022. He was a HC briefly for the South Florida Bulls in 2019, finishing 6-6 (0.500).

## Rule Changes

* Kickoffs will be from the 20 yard line
* Clock will run when out of bounds unless in 2 minute warning of 2nd and 4th quarter

## Season Structure

### Preseason

Training Camp began on March 21st and is planned to end on April 9th.

### Regular Season

The Regular Season will began on April 15th with the New Jersey Generals at Memphis Showboats on NBC. Each team played 10 games over 10 weeks, with no bye weeks. There were 4 games per week, making it 40 games in the Regular Season. Week 10 will conclude on June 18th.

### Playoffs

The Playoffs began on June 24th with a doubleheader, the North Championship followed by the South Championship. The 2023 USFL Championship was be a week later, on July 1st at Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium in Canton.

## Schedule

The USFL 2023 Schedule would be the same format as the previous season which will be 10 games, 6 divisional opponents and 4 non-divisional opponents. The Schedule was released on February 7th 2023. The League would begin on Saturday 15th April 2023 with the New Jersey Generals at Memphis Showboats.

### Playoffs

The Playoffs will begin on June 24th with the Divisional Championships and end on July 2nd with the League Championship. The North Division Championship and 2023 USFL Championship Game will be played at Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium while the South Division Championship will be played at Protective Stadium.

#### Division Championships

(millions)
 June 24, 8:00pm ET
 June 25, 3:00pm ET

#### League Championship

(millions)
 July 1, 7:30pm ET

## Players Compensation

On 8th February 2023, the USFL confirmed player compensation for 2023, with all players getting payed $4,000 per week ($40,000 per season). Practise Squad players will be getting payed $2,000 per week ($20,000 per season). An additional $1,000 bonus for each winning team. For the Playoffs, the winning teams of the Divisional Championship games will get payed an extra $5,000 bonus, while losers of the playoffs will get a $2,000 bonus. For the Championship, the winners will get a $10,000 bonus while the losers will get an $5,000 bonus.

## Broadcasting

On January 1st 2023, FOX and NBC confirmed they signed a new deal with the USFL. The deal runs through 2026 and confirms that NBC and FOX with their networks will carry all 43 USFL games live per season. Also, each TV will broadcast one division championship game, NBC will broadcast the North Division and FOX will broadcast the South Division, and the USFL Championship will be a 2 year rotational policy. NBC will broadcast the 2023 USFL Championship as FOX broadcasted the 2022 USFL Championship.

The League released their schedule on February 7th 2023. FOX will broadcast 11 games as well as the South Championship. FS1 will broadcast 8 games. FS2 will broadcast 1 game. NBC will broadcast 10 games as well as the North Championship and the 2023 USFL Championship. USA will broadcast 4 games. Peacock will broadcast 6 games.

## References

1. ↑ USFL is committed to having a season in 2023 sources say
2. ↑ 2023 USFL Season: Where will teams play?
3. ↑ USFL confirm 2023 Season to be in more than one market
4. ↑ USFL: The Memphis Showboats replace the Bandits for 2023, Memphis and Birmingham to host games for the South.
5. ↑ USFL: What will be the 1-2 hub(s) in the North for 2023?
6. ↑ USFL 2023: Ford Field in Detriot to Host Games in 2023
7. ↑ USFL comes back to Canton for 2023
8. ↑ USFL: Ford Field added as 4th Hub City for 2023
9. ↑ USFL 4 Hub Cities are: Birmingham, Memphis, Canton and Detroit
10. ↑ 2023 USFL Championship to head to Canton again, as confirmed by USFL
11. ↑ USFL Week 10: Stars vs Maulers will have massive implications for draft
12. ↑ USFL: Pittsburgh Maulers re brand to Black and Gold for 2023 Season
13. ↑ USFL: James Greeners, Bandits headcoach, Resigns from the USFL after one season.
14. ↑ Memphis Showboats hire Brandon McAliister: Former NFL, AAF and XFL headcoach.
15. ↑ USFL Training Camp 2023: March 21 - April 9
16. ↑ 2023 USFL Kickoff Game: Generals at Showboats in Memphis will kickoff second USFL season
17. ↑ USFL: 40 game schedule for the Regular Season released
18. ↑ 2023 USFL Playoffs: USFL confirms dates and venues for the Playoff games following the Regular Season
19. ↑ USFL confirm 2023 USFL Season will have same scheduling format as the first season
20. ↑ 2023 USFL Kickoff Game: Generals at Showboats: Pro Football will return to Memphis to kickoff 2023 USFL Season
21. ↑ USFL Playoff Sites: Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium (North, Championship) and Protective Stadium (South)
22. ↑ USFL confirms compensation for 2023 and beyond
23. ↑ USFL players could get up to $65,000 per season, if a team goes 10-0, wins both playoff games
24. ↑ USFL: FOX and NBC sign new TV deals that will run until 2026
25. ↑ USFL: FOX and NBC release their TV schedule for 2023
26. ↑ 2023 USFL Schedule: TV Schedule
27. ↑ USFL TV Schedule 2023
28. ↑ USFL TV Ratings so far in 2023