The new United States Football League announced the eight teams that will take the field in April for the FOX Sports-owned league.
Playing in the north division will be Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers. The Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits make up the south division.
The teams were announced Monday on Colin Cowherd’s show on FS1, “The Herd.”
In 2022, all the teams will play at one location, but the plan calls for the teams to play in their home markets in subsequent years.
Each team will play 10 games — two games apiece against teams in their division and one against each opposite-division foe. Games are scheduled to run from mid-April through mid-June, followed by playoffs. While the schedule largely calls for games on the weekends, there will be some contests on Fridays and Mondays.
Brian Woods, the founder of The Spring League, which ran from 2017-21, is the league’s president of football operations. Former Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston is the executive vice president of football operations.
The new USFL has no connection to the original USFL, which was in existence from 1983 through 1985, despite having several team names in common.
The short-lived league featured some players who went on to NFL stardom. Running back Herschel Walker played for the New Jersey Generals, and Hall of Fame quarterbacks Steve Young (Los Angeles Express) and Jim Kelly (Houston Gamblers) were on USFL rosters.
Two recent upstart football leagues — the Alliance of American Football and the XFL — failed to last a season. The AAF went bankrupt in the midst of the 2019 season, and the coronavirus pandemic forced the XFL to stop play in 2020. The league then folded.
–Field Level Media