With just 86 days remaining until the United Football League (UFL) kicks off its 2025 season on March 28, excitement is building around this innovative spring league. Here’s what you need to know before the season begins.
Countdown to Kickoff
Days to Kickoff: Only 86 days remain until the UFL’s inaugural game of the season, marking the start of a new chapter in spring football.
Teams
The 2025 UFL will feature eight teams divided into two conferences, the USFL and XFL. From the USFL Conference, fans can expect to see the 2024 UFL Championship Birmingham Stallions, as well as the Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats, and Michigan Panthers. The XFL Conference will showcase the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas, and St. Louis Battlehawks.
There are no plans for expansion this season. As part of the XFL-USFL merger approval, federal regulators “prefer(ed) more opportunities” (eventual expansion clubs) than the eight 2024 teams. No expansion or relocations are planned for 2025, as Executive Vice President of Football Operations Daryl Johnston has stated he believes stability and a “traditional offseason calendar” could help ticket sales in most poorer-selling locales. The UFL announced in November 2024 that additional cities could submit expansion ideas by 2026.
Broadcasting
September saw the league announce the 2025 season start date of March 28, 2025, and a TV schedule modification of Fox broadcasting Friday-night games. Other than Fox, the UFL has a robust broadcasting package, and will include games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1.
Fox and ESPN (in its third season of a five-year deal) hold UFL television rights in the US. One game every week will be played on Friday night on main Fox in season two to satisfy Fox’s new IndyCar commitment and fill the famously difficult Friday schedule hole left by WWE SmackDown’s departure to USA Network. The networks will sell most of their advertising through bulk agreements with Fox Sports and ESPN Inc.
Schedule
The season will run from Friday March 28 to Saturday June 14, featuring a total of 40 regular season games. The playoffs will kick off with conference championships on June 8-9, culminating in the UFL Championship Game on June 14. The league plans to release it’s detailed schedule on Thursday January 2, 2025, which is when we will finally get to see which two teams will kick off the season on a new timeslot, Friday evenings on Fox.
Venues
As opposed to previous seasons, the league’s venues are in place well in advance of the season start.
The Houston Roughnecks announced on September 13, 2024, that they would return to TDECU Stadium for the 2025 season after renovations. While TDECU Stadium was refurbished, the Roughnecks played the 2024 season at Rice Stadium, while the team played in TDECU in 2020 and 2023.
After the Alamodome announced large event commitments for April, May, and June, the Battlehawks were announced to host six games in 2025, taking one home game from the Brahmas. League President Russ Brandon said the Brahmas’ home schedule would be backloaded with the four home games concentrated toward the end of the 2025 season to minimize scheduling conflicts. The league considered moving the Brahmas to another stadium in the San Antonio metropolitan area but decided against it to avoid “some very complex operational concerns.”
Ford Field’s lease ended after the 2024 season, delaying season ticket sales for the Michigan Panthers. October 29, 2024, saw the league renew for 2025.
Other teams will play in the same venue as in 2024: Birmingham Stallions (Protective Stadium), Memphis Showboats (Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium), Arlington Renegades (Choctaw Stadium), DC Defenders (Audi Field), and St. Louis Battlehawks (The Dome at America’s Center).
Bob Stoops, Head Coach of the Arlington Renegades
Head Coaches
There has been some questions as to whether certain head coaches would return for the 2025 season. It is expected for the league to soon announce a spate of contract renewals.
Arlington’s Bob Stoops, St. Louis’ Anthony Becht, and DC’s Reggie Barlow are believed to be nearing the end of their guaranteed XFL contracts, which will be subject to new terms that the USFL coaches and all assistants agreed to in 2024 that were less generous than the 2023 XFL. The only exception is San Antonio’s Wade Phillips, who is in his second year of a two-year contract extension negotiated before the merger. Stoops, the league’s longest-tenured coach and the sole remaining coach from the 2020 XFL season, said he was open to returning in 2025 but “you never know what the structure is going to look like.” In August 2024, Becht committed to a third Battlehawks season as coach.
After coaching the New Orleans Breakers in 2023, John DeFilippo coached the Memphis Showboats in 2024 with a total record of 9-11 (.450), 7-3 (.700) with the Breakers and 2-8 (.200) with the Showboats. After the 2024 season, he resigned with general manager Dennis Polian. In the offseason the league hired Ken Whisenhunt to lead the Showboats. Whisenhunt was Alabama’s special assistant to head coach Kalen DeBoer in 2023 and 2024. He had substantial experience as a collegiate and NFL offensive coordinator and two NFL head coaching stints with the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans.
Players
With the NFL season having concluded, the UFL provides a platform for players to showcase their talents, potentially earning another shot in the NFL. Keep an eye for plenty of signings and player movement leading up to UFL training camp where each team will plan to have a 64-man roster (compared to 75 in the 2024 season). Final cut downs will reduce the squads to 50 for the regular season, with 45 players active on game day.
This is the third and final year of the league’s agreement with Arlington, Texas, to serve as the league’s centralized hub for training camp and to act as an operational headquarters.
The United Football League Players Association (UFPA) announced on August 12, 2024, that the United Steelworkers, which had represented the league’s players, will move on. The message strongly advised the players to form another union rather than connect with the United Football Players Association, with whom the USW and UFLPA had a falling out with in 2023. Despite this warning, the UFPA announced on October 12 that UFL players had accepted an agreement to become a union. The NLRB confirmed the vote.
St. Louis Battlehawks fans filled The Dome to witness a powerful Battlehawks victory. (twitter.com)
Fan Engagement
Ticket sales and local engagement are a priority for the league, with efforts to increase attendance after some declines in ticket sales in the previous year. Season tickets for 2025 are already available, signaling strong fan interest.
In a post-2024 season interview with Fox Sports, Daryl Johnston said, “With our home markets, we’ve got to build that trust there — that we’re not going to leave or [that] the league isn’t going to fold. We’ve got a couple of cities that historically have been a part of spring football; they’ve committed to a team, and that team has left. … We’ve still got some trust to build in our home markets. We are going to be able to dial into the details. We will have a traditional offseason calendar where we can be ahead of the curve instead of being in a position where we have to chase it a little bit”.
In an October 2024 statement, chairwoman Dany Garcia highlighted one area of improvement for the league in 2025 was to seek to improve its ties to local markets.
Why You Should Care
The UFL isn’t just another football league; it’s a melting pot of innovation, talent scouting, and entertainment. Whether you’re a die-hard football fan looking to fill the void left by the NFL’s off-season, or someone interested in the development of new football rules and strategies, the UFL offers something unique. It’s not just about the games; it’s about the stories of players striving for another chance, coaches experimenting with new approaches, and fans rallying around new teams.
