UFL opens on March 30: Origins of spring pro football & interview with expert Anthony Miller

Both the XFL and USFL merged into one spring league

For the past two years, the universe of professional football has sported two spring leagues, the XFL and the USFL. Both leagues were reboots of earlier attempts to become viable NFL-rival leagues. Since we know Cleveland Browns fans, and Ohioans in general, love football, we thought a little background on the newest spring football league made sense.

This past off-season, the two entities merged into one league with a rebrand now called the “United Football League (UFL).” They kept four teams from each spring league and will begin their 2024 season on March 30.

The “United States Football League” (USFL) survived from 1983 to 1985 and went after NFL players and coaches. The league took the NFL to court accusing them of a monopoly and won, but only for $3. Crippled and embarrassed, there were plans to take the league head-on with the NFL with a fall schedule in 1986, but numerous stadium contracts prohibited sharing during the NFL season which forced most USFL teams to fold because of a lack of venue. Eventually, the league closed shop.

LINK: UFL WEBSITE

It has been said that if the USFL had remained strictly a spring league, they would be operating today.

Then in 2022, the USFL re-appeared with the same league logo, rules, and city/team names. But this time around, the 8-team league was a developmental league that gave players who weren’t on any NFL roster or practice squad, nor the roster or practice squad of any club in the “Canadian Football League (CFL)”, an opportunity to continue their dream of being a pro football athlete.

Their teams consisted of Detroit, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans. The USFL owners were Brian Woods and FOX Corporation. Later, FOX would take total control.

For 2022, the USFL played all their games in a “bubble” with all teams were housed in Birmingham, Alabama which had two NFL-caliber stadiums. That changed in 2023 when four cities were chosen to host games. The plan for 2024 was for each club to play in their respective city.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

The “XFL” began in 2001 as a developmental league – sort of. Owned by Vince McMahon who also owned and operated the WWE, all of their advertising ranted about how their league was going to give the die-hard football fan the sport of professional football that used to be played: rough and tumble. Even though their rosters consisted solely of guys who weren’t on any NFL or CFL roster or practice squad, the league hinted that at some point, they would take on the established league.

After one full season, the XFL closed.

Fast forward to 2020. The XFL began again in eight cities: Washington DC, Seattle, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston, Orlando, and San Antonio. It was also categorized as a developmental league. But after only playing five games, the remainder of the season was shut down due to the pandemic.

The league was then sold to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gery Cardinale. There were talks with the CFL about a merger, but this never came to fruition. This group put together a successful 2023 season with ABC and ESPN as their broadcast partners. Los Angeles relocated to Dallas and became the Arlington Renegades.

Origins of Spring Pro Football Leagues

Another failed spring pro football league, the “Alliance of American Football” (AAF), began play in 2019 and folded midstream of its first season. Other leagues that came and went with a spring format include “The Spring League”, “Major League Football”, “Arena Football League”, and “Regional Football League.”

The Arena Football League is set to return this April with 16 teams.

The very first spring pro football entity was the “Trans American Football League (TAFL).” This original spring league operated in 1971.

The TAFL decided to compete in the spring to avoid competing against high school, college, and the NFL for patrons. There was the idea that perhaps they could draw huge crowds who missed football and would receive national attention as a duck out of water. There was an article in Sports Illustrated on the TAFL on the fact that pro football would play games in the spring and go head-to-head with baseball. The schedule from April 25 to June 26 was player-friendly so that players could later attend NFL training camps if invited.

For 1971, the league consisted of just four clubs: the Dallas Rockets, Texarkana Titans, Ft. Worth Braves, and San Antonio Toros. The Toros had been a successful team in the defunct Texas Football League and had won four titles already.

The pay scale in the TAFL was unusual. Players and coaches were paid a percentage of ticket sales after the stadium rental and referees were paid. Most quarterbacks and some skill position players were paid 2.5% of the gate while the remainder of the roster got 1%. Every team needed about 7,000 in attendance to break even.

Although the TAFL had big aspirations of being a player in the universe of professional football, the league became nothing more than a semi-pro entity. Originally slated for a nine-game season, the teams ended up playing five games each. After its maiden season, San Antonio won the title and was the only club to end their season in the black. The team owners were said to be unanimous in deciding to return to play in the fall, but instead, the Braves and Titans folded while San An and Dallas joined another fall upstart league called the “Southwestern Football League” and the TAFL ended.

The initial beginnings of spring pro football were short, but as the TAFL shows, these challenges have always existed for alternative football leagues. And though football fans are still left awaiting a successful spring football story, the story still has yet to be told if the new UFL will succeed where so many others have failed.

New league, new look

During this past off-season in September, the XFL and USFL merged into one entity which required regulatory approval. That came later.

On November 30, 2023, the two leagues issued a statement that they “have completed the antitrust review process in connection with the proposed merger of the XFL and USFL and intend to play a combined season this spring kicking off on Saturday, March 30. We are now finalizing the terms of the definitive agreement.”

The merger was formally announced on Fox NFL Sunday on December 31, 2023. Both leagues already had schedules that were then canceled.

The new league going forward would be called the “United Football League.”

Now, this is not to be confused with other entities which called themselves the “United Football League.”

From 1961-1964, the UFL was a semi-pro league with eight teams comprised primarily in the Midwestern United States.

A new UFL operated from 2009-2012. This small-team league consisted of the Las Vegas Locomotives, New York Sentinals, Florida Tuskers (Orlando), and California Redwoods (San Francisco). In their second year, New York relocated to Hartford, Connecticut, and became the Hartford Colonials, the Redwoods moved to Sacramento, California to become the Sacramento Mountain Lions, the Tuskers became the Virginia Destroyers, and the Omaha Nighthawks were brought in as the league’s fifth team.

As this league rolled along, expansion was discussed for consideration in cities such as Austin, Texas, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, Utah, Raleigh, North Carolina, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Los Angeles, and San Antonio, Texas. All players were paid $25,000 a season except quarterbacks who made $35,000.

However, after financial shortfalls, the league ceased operations for the remainder of the 2012 UFL season. In 2017, the UFL abandoned its trademarks which allowed this new league to file for new trademarks in 2023.

In a twist, another proposed league, the “National Gridiron League”, was founded in 2017 by owner Joe McClendon with plans for 12 cities to begin play in 2019. That was canceled, and then the pandemic eliminated the 2020 season as well. But the league attempted to rebrand itself the “United Football League” in 2021 with its own website. The 2021 season became the 2022 season which became the 2023 season. In March of 2023, rosters were announced, stadiums and head coaches were publicized and schedules were released.

Players were promised $50,000 a year, as well as meals and housing from UFL Commissioner McClendon. But the league canceled the 2023 season and no news has been announced on any more development.

This opened up the XFL and USFL’s merger to be able to claim their new venue United Football League. The new league dropped four XFL and four USFL cities and kept four from each of the existing clubs that were the most successful on the field as well as at the gate.

Anthony Miller Interview regarding the new UFL

With a new format comes new things. For one, the rules. For the most part, since the UFL is a developmental league and is not in competition with the NFL or the CFL for players and coaches, the rules pretty much mirror the other entities.

There are some changes, and this league can become a testing ground for new rules and ideas. For example, Major League Baseball now has a clock for their pitchers. Before being implicated at this level, this was first tested for several years in their minor league ballparks. The UFL can also be a training area for referees, front-office personnel, and coaches.

Which is already happening. Many assistant coaches in the UFL are well-known former players: Andre Gurode, Donnie Abraham, Martin Bayless, La’Roi Glover, Doug Martin, Carnell Lake, Brock Marion, Brett Maxie, Chris Boniol, and Chuck Long.

LINK: UFL LEAGUE RULES

Dawgs By Nature wanted some more information on the new UFL and has gone to the source to provide some factual answers.

Anthony Miller covers the UFL and CFL for Sports Illustrated. He also covers college football for College Football Network. DBN sat down with the spring football expert to discuss the NFL possibly adopting the XFL kickoff, why the two leagues came together as one entity, and will the UFL ever compete against the NFL.

DBN: What was your reaction when the XFL and USFL merged?

Miller: It was necessary for the survival of spring football. Too many times we have seen leagues like the original USFL, the XFL in 2001, the AAF, and many more not be able to continue due to financial reasons. The USFL brings a strong television presence while the XFL brings a strong game-day experience which if you put the two together can make for a strong relationship. If the XFL and the USFL went another year or two competing against each other, one or both leagues would have died.

DBN: Why do you think this merger will work?

Miller: Simply put: cutting costs. The leagues combined will be saving more money by working together than working against each other. The big thing though is the UFL has to be slow and patient. If they rush expansion when they are not ready, they will lose more money and end up folded. Work with the 8 teams you have for the next 2-3 years and then see where you are at financially.

DBN: Both the XFL and USFL had eight teams each. What was the process to choose which eight XFL/USFL cities would be eliminated, and which eight would be retained?

Miller: It was all about who has the most fans coming to their games which were the Birmingham Stallions, St. Louis Battlehawks, Memphis Showboats, and D.C. Defenders. The Arlington Renegades had to be brought back because of the name power of Bob Stoops and they just won the XFL title last year. The Michigan Panthers, San Antonio Brahmas, and Houston Roughnecks all have solid fan bases with the potential to grow even more.

DBN: What can fans expect from this year’s new league?

Miller: Play on the field is going to be the strongest spring football has seen since the XFL in 2020. The USFL in 2022 had great talent as well, but some good players held out for the XFL to play for them instead of the USFL. All the best talent that isn’t on an NFL team will be playing in this league making it competitive and unpredictable who will win it all.

DBN: The UFL has adopted the three-tiered extra-point system used by the USFL. What are your thoughts on this rule?

Miller: I love the innovation of the PAT. Despite the NFL pushing back the extra point a few years ago, it’s still a play that no fan really cares about. Having the element of either scoring one, two, or three points makes the game more interesting. A 9-point game is still a one-possession game which is unheard of if you are an NFL fan. The hope though is more teams will attempt the three-point play as a lot of them pass it up for the easy one-point conversion.

Photo by Aric Becker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

DBN: Onside kicks have been in contention in recent years. The UFL has adopted its version with the ability for a team to have a fourth-and-12 from their own 28-yard line and if successful have a new set of downs. However, this is only available in the fourth quarter. Your thoughts?

Miller: Offense drives football these days. Fans want to watch a high scoring game instead of a defensive battle. These onside kick rules give fans the chance to watch a big passing play be made. We saw it last year on the opening weekend of the XFL season with the St. Louis Battlehawks converting a fourth-and-12 to set them up with the win over the San Antonio Brahmas. It’s an exciting play that gives the offense more time on the field.

DBN: The UFL will only penalize 15 yards on a pass interference call instead of a spot foul. What do you think is their thought process to change this to what college football does instead of how the NFL penalizes a team?

Miller: It’s a balancing act between having rules that are in favor of the offense and making sure defenses aren’t at a disadvantage. Spring leagues have always had a blend of college football and NFL rules so it seems they don’t want to reward offenses with massive amounts of yards if a deep pass is called.

Getty Images for USFL

DBN: Right out of the gate in Week 1 the UFL will pit reigning XFL champion Arlington against reigning and two-time USFL champion Birmingham. What are you expecting from this matchup?

Miller: Birmingham has been the class of spring football over the last two years as they are strong in all three phases of the game. The Stallions’ offense took a lot of hits with J’Mar Smith, Bo Scarbrough, and Marlon Williams all key players who suffered injuries so if they can all bounce back from their injuries, the offense should be one of the top ones. Arlington struggled offensively last year until Luis Perez came into the picture and he transformed them to a high-powered offense. The defense for the Renegades is among one of the best so if the offense can find some deep threats at receiver, they should be good this year. It will be a heavy-weight battle between two good teams, but I would give the advantage to Birmingham as Skip Holtz’s team knows how to win.

DBN: Do you always see the UFL as a developmental league, or will they one day compete with the NFL and CFL for players and coaches?

Miller: They have to find a way to be a developmental league for the NFL. I have always believed that if the NFL doesn’t back it up, the UFL will never flourish like fans want it to. In the short term, the UFL will be fine, but there will be a point where they have to make the argument to the NFL to back them and support them financially. After the millions of dollars the NFL lost from NFL Europe, it seems highly unlikely they will financially help them out. A partnership by name only could help, but the UFL has to get the NFL more involved eventually.

Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images

DBN: Both the XFL and USFL had sparse crowds except for Birmingham, St. Louis, and San Antonio. What will it take for attendance to increase?

Miller: St. Louis has carried spring football in attendance since 2020. It helps that the city is hungry for football, but marketing in the city is strong. That’s what the UFL is lacking in marketing in the local markets. The league is trying to save money on marketing as they don’t want to lose a ton of money which I get, but they have to spend more on marketing. One other thing is eventually they have to move from having a league hub in one location. Having teams live, practice, and play in their cities helps them develop relationships with local businesses and fans that will attract them to come out to the games. The town halls the UFL teams have had are good, but more local events with players and coaches in their cities will help.

LINK: FULL UFL SCHEDULE

DBN: The NFL has a proposal to change the standard kickoff to the one once used in the XFL with players five yards apart and the return man deep. Is this a better system, and if so, why has the UFL abandoned this rule and gone to a more traditional kickoff with some minor changes?

Miller: There are two elements to think about here. 1) The two leagues are working with each other to make compromises on teams, rules, etc. This was one where it feels like the USFL wanted their kickoff rule so in exchange, the XFL brought over their PAT rules. 2) The league’s thinking could be to try to match what the NFL is doing as closely as possible while being innovative in getting more returns. My personal opinion is the XFL kickoff rule is safer and more exciting than any kickoff rule in professional football. At the same time, the USFL’s rule gets players more prepared for the NFL as it is closer to the NFL. Seeing a player run down the field to make a block or tackle is different from seeing players stand five yards apart from each other and then go after the returner begins his motion. This league has to do what it can to get player’s feet in the NFL’s door.