USFL (2020s)

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The United States Football League (USFL) is a Spring professional football league which was launched in 2022 as a revival of the 1980s USFL.

The USFL's name and trademarks were acquired from the defunct league which featured the original Birmingham Stallions franchise owned by Marvin Warner. The new league is wholly owned by National Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC, headed by Brian Woods and partly owned by the Fox Sports Media Group. Fox and Fox Sports serve as the league's lead broadcast outlets, with additional games aired on NBC and the USA Network.

The USFL negotiated to play its entire 40-game regular season in Birmingham, primarily at Protective Stadium, between mid-April and mid-June. Under the agreement, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex did not charge the league for use of the stadium nor keep gate receipts, but did retain revenues from concessions and parking, as well as some advertising and premium seating sales. The league negotiated a separate agreement with the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board for the use of Legion Field for practices and for eight games. Due to conflict with the 2022 World Games, the league scheduled it's 3-game playoff to be held at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on June 25 and July 3.

The Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau voted on October 21 to contribute as much as $2 million to support the proposal. The City of Birmingham and Jefferson County Commission each agreed to allocate up to $500,000 toward the cost. Attorneys for FOX Sports told the Bureau that current plans for the 2023 season included keeping as many as 4 teams in Birmingham with four other sites hosting individual teams. In 2024 each team would be hosted in its own city.

The eight charter teams were announced in November, including the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Pittsburgh Maulers and Pennsylvania Stars in a northern division, and the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits in a southern division.

References

  • Johnson, Roy S. (October 18, 2021) "USFL, BJCC reach tentative MOA to bring relaunch season to Birmingham." The Birmingham News
  • Johnson, Roy S. (October 21, 2021) "Convention bureau commits up to $2 million to support USFL ‘bubble’ in Birmingham." The Birmingham News
  • Johnson, Roy S. (October 28, 2021) "USFL, BJCC ready to ‘finalize’ agreement to host inaugural season in Birmingham in spring 2022." The Birmingham News
  • Franklin, Austin (November 22, 2021) "Birmingham Stallions revealed as part of USFL relaunch." CBS42.com
  • Patchen, Tyler (January 12, 2022) "USFL receives funds, use of Legion Field from Birmingham City Council." Birmingham Business Journal
  • Johnson, Roy S. (January 22, 2022) "How the USFL came to Birmingham, and almost didn’t" The Birmingham News
  • Johnson, Roy S. (February 16, 2022) "USFL playoff, title games will not be played in Birmingham due to scheduling conflict." The Birmingham News

External links

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