Between X posts from Birmingham Stallions LB Scooby Wright regarding USFL details and Vegas Vipers WR Jeff Badet regarding XFL details, it’s essentially been confirmed that the product of this merger will include eight teams, four from the USFL side and four from the XFL side, or so it may seem:
Arlington Renegades
Birmingham Stallions
D.C. Defenders
Houston Gamblers*
Memphis Showboats
Michigan Panthers
San Antonio Brahmas
St. Louis Battlehawks
While the Gamblers’ roster will be carried over from the USFL, it hasn’t been determined whether or not the Gamblers’ branding will remain, with the Roughnecks arguably a better-known brand in Houston with their presence in the city from last year and in 2020. This would make sense, considering the Gamblers haven’t actually played a game in Houston since the 1980s during the Jim Kelly era.
Speaking of branding, the combined league is set to be called the UFL, which the XFL filed 22 trademark applications for on Oct. 16. However, both the USFL and XFL will continue to be represented with conferences. Under this structure, the USFL conference will hold the four surviving teams from its league, and the XFL will do the same.
Player Allocation Process
With eight of the 16 teams ceasing to exist (for now) due to the merger, there will be tons of talent for the remaining teams to bolster their rosters. To spread the talent, there will be two Dispersal Drafts within the next month.
The first draft is slated for Dec. 27, and will be exclusively for players from dissolving teams. Player pools will be separated based on league, meaning XFL teams cannot select players from ceasing USFL teams and vice versa. Teams will be able to choose up to 20 players during the draft.
Before the Dec. 27 draft, surviving teams will have the ability to protect up to 42 players on their roster from being drafted by another team. While the “protected” players will be able to stick with their respective teams through the process, the waived players will be placed into a pool for the second Dispersal Draft, slated for Jan. 15. Not only will the pool consist of the “unprotected” players from surviving teams, but also any remaining free agents from teams that did not make the merger. Teams will be able to select players from both the USFL and XFL during this draft, unlike the prior one.
Hub Model & Training Camp
Through training camp and the season, all eight squads will be housed in Arlington, Texas. Teams will be flown out to their respective markets over the weekends for games, as was seen with the XFL hub model in 2023.
UFL training camp is set to begin on Feb. 23, 36 days before the confirmed kickoff date for the 2024 season – Mar. 30. Training camp rosters will consist of 75 players per team.
Player Pay
While Badet’s tweet from earlier today indicated player salaries and benefits, those figures are subject to change due to ongoing negotiations by the UFPA.
— United Football Players Association (@UnitedFBPlayers) December 22, 2023
Official Announcement
While many speculated the 21st of December would be the day we’d get an official merger announcement, it appears that ship has sailed. Due to the holidays, an official announcement from the league isn’t expected until early January.
This sucks.
No Pittsburgh team.
I won’t follow this anymore.
I hope they choke.