The USFL released its schedule for the 2023 regular season on Tuesday.
The league’s eight teams will play 10 games in 10 weeks from April through June, followed by a four-team playoff and USFL Championship game.
The second season of the spring football league will kick off April 15 and 16. The New Jersey Generals play the defending champion Birmingham Stallions, the Michigan Panthers face the Houston Gamblers, the Philadelphia Stars meet the Memphis Showboats and the Pittsburgh Maulers play the New Orleans Breakers.
There will be one rematch of last year’s championship game between Birmingham and Philadelphia, scheduled for Week 8 on either June 3 or 4.
As previously announced, the league will hold games in four locations in 2023: Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.; Liberty Stadium in Memphis; Ford Field in Detroit; and Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Last year, all regular-season games were held in Birmingham and the playoffs were staged in Canton.
The market for spring football figures to be more crowded than ever. The XFL is once again relaunching later this month, leading to two leagues operating in the NFL offseason for the first time. The Alliance of American Football folded after one season in 2019 and the first crack at an “XFL 2.0” shut down in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic amid financial trouble.
However, the USFL and XFL will only overlap for four weeks. The XFL will be in Week 9 of its 10-week season on April 15 and 16; the XFL playoffs are set for April 29-30 and May 13.
“Our regular-season matchups provide 10 weeks of highly competitive games,” USFL executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston said in a news release. “We’re excited to start our next journey, and we’re fired up to play in front of our new fans in four host cities.”
–Field Level Media