Merger in the works? Would make sense! Less opportunities for those fringe NFL-type players but could see this working out in a positive way in the long run.

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Pro football leagues XFL and USFL are in advanced talks to merge, three sources familiar with the situation tell Axios.

Why it matters: Combining the two may be the smartest path forward for the leagues given the challenges and the history of failure for NFL alternatives.

Details: The merger would be structured as a merger of equals and would require regulatory approval, one of the sources said. The leagues hope to combine before the 2024 seasons.

Axious

16 current team:
USFL - Birmingham, Houston, Michigan, New Jersey, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Memphis
XFL - Arlington (TX), DC, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis, Vegas

Merge into and under the name "USFL."
Move one Houston franchise (Gamblers) to LA and resurrect the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL (2020).
Regional conferences because travel will need to be contained as much as possible.

Eastern Conference: Birmingham, DC, Michigan, New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis*
Western Conference: Arlington, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis*, New Orleans, San Antonio, Seattle, Vegas
* Possibility: switch Memphis and St. Louis

https://fbschedules.com/xfl-usfl-in-adva...er-report/

(09-19-2023 02:01 PM)BePcr07 Wrote:  16 current team:
USFL - Birmingham, Houston, Michigan, New Jersey, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Memphis
XFL - Arlington (TX), DC, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis, Vegas

Merge into and under the name "USFL."
Move one Houston franchise (Gamblers) to LA and resurrect the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL (2020).
Regional conferences because travel will need to be contained as much as possible.

Eastern Conference: Birmingham, DC, Michigan, New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis*
Western Conference: Arlington, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis*, New Orleans, San Antonio, Seattle, Vegas
* Possibility: switch Memphis and St. Louis

Wasn't the league going to move the Vipers to another city?

(09-19-2023 02:56 PM)TardisCaptain Wrote:  

(09-19-2023 02:01 PM)BePcr07 Wrote:  16 current team:
USFL - Birmingham, Houston, Michigan, New Jersey, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Memphis
XFL - Arlington (TX), DC, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis, Vegas

Merge into and under the name "USFL."
Move one Houston franchise (Gamblers) to LA and resurrect the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL (2020).
Regional conferences because travel will need to be contained as much as possible.

Eastern Conference: Birmingham, DC, Michigan, New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis*
Western Conference: Arlington, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis*, New Orleans, San Antonio, Seattle, Vegas
* Possibility: switch Memphis and St. Louis

Wasn't the league goig to move the Vipers to another city?

Correct. Vegas was going somewhere else, but it is yet to be named. XFL coaching staffs were reclassified as part time in the last two weeks so that tells me RedBird is trying to stop the financial bleeding. I'm not sure if it's a true merger or XFL trying to be absorbed by FOX.

I like it.

More markets, more teams, more games. Hopefully, the league lasts a long time and is stable.

This will result in just one bankruptcy to adjudicate instead of two.

(09-21-2023 08:13 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  This will result in just one bankruptcy to adjudicate instead of two.

But in the meantime, we have some lovely games to attend in the Spring.

At least for those of us in markets without the NFL.

I imagine that part of the cash savings of the merger would be the elimination of a few teams—maybe down to just 12 or 14 to help the merged league find its footing.

Here’s the news

Quote: The UFL is back. Even if it’s not the UFL that once existed.

The official combination of the XFL and the USFL will be called the United Football League and/or the UFL. As previously announced, the new spring league will start playing on March 30.

The first game will pit the respective XFL and USFL champions against each other — the Arlington Renegades and the Birmingham Stallions.

The four USFL teams that will survive have been identified. They are the Stallions, the Michigan Panthers, the Houston Gamblers, and the Memphis Showboats.

Arlington clearly will survive the dissolution of the XFL. The remaining XFL teams to land in the UFL have not been identified.

NBCSports

And the Houston Gamblers have morphed into the their XFL counterparts, the Houston Roughnecks. Huge win for me, as I identified as a Roughnecks fan and not with the Gamblers. I never even watched a Gamblers game.

Where are the Boston Breakers?

(01-03-2024 03:06 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Where are the Boston Breakers?

They were not in the USFL reboot. The New Orleans Breakers did not survive this merger. I don't think they actually played a game in New Orleans anyway.

(01-04-2024 08:13 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  

(01-03-2024 03:06 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Where are the Boston Breakers?

They were not in the USFL reboot. The New Orleans Breakers did not survive this merger. I don't think they actually played a game in New Orleans anyway.

They wouldn't have been able to survive in a small and impoverished (based on median income) market like New Orleans anyways, even if it's a little more football mad than most places.