How the USFL and XFL merger can work

On Thursday morning, the United States Football League (USFL) and the XFL announced their intention to merge into one league pending regulatory approval.

Last week, both Sportico and Axios reported that the two leagues were in talks of a merger. Axios reported that the merger would be structured as a merger of equals and would require regulatory approval.

This announcement has caused quite a stir on social media regarding football fans of both leagues. Slowly, details started to emerge on what the potential merger could look like. Pro Football Newsroom’s James Larsen reported that not all 16 teams will play in the new league.

The new league is looking at playing 10 to 12 teams with those that don’t have home venues on the chopping block. Many coaches, players, and everyone on these teams who don’t have home stadiums now await their fate for next year. However, both leagues are continuing operations as usual until further notice.

Furthermore, the USFL filed 22 trademarks related to the National Spring Football League as the potential new name for the league. FOX, the owner of the USFL operates as the National Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC. I wonder if FOX is going to own the new league with support from Redbird Capital’s Gerry Cardale.

Those teams that are on the chopping block are the Philadelphia Stars, New Jersey Generals, Vegas Vipers, New Orleans Breakers, Houston Gamblers, and Pittsburgh Maulers. This did not sit well with fans of both leagues. On one side, the XFL fans don’t want a hub model and want to keep their teams in their respective cities. On the other side, most of the USFL fans want the hub model to continue which would sustain long-term growth for the league.

For the last two seasons, the USFL has been operating a hub model. In 2022, they had all of their games played in Birmingham Alabama with the playoffs in Canton, Ohio.

This year, they expanded to Canton Ohio, Detroit Michigan, and Memphis Tennessee. In addition to Birmingham hosting regular season games, Canton would once again host the championship game. Operating in a hub model has allowed the league to save money on costs like travel, food, player salaries, etc. 

As I said in my last post, I don’t think a merger will benefit the USFL. In that article, I discussed why the USFL should copy the MLS business model. The USFL sees it in a different way that could help them grow for the future and may be the key to working toward that MLS business model.

Maybe, this is what was holding them back from getting people to invest in either league because they don’t know which league would survive. Last month, multiple people attempted to buy the Washington Commanders including Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos. A potential merger could lure these people into investing in the league.

How can the potential USFL and XFL merger work? First, the USFL should keep its name. The USFL is a prestigious league with a lot of history. This season, the USFL capitalized on that history by bringing in past players from the 1983 Michigan Panthers championship team, Doug Flutie, and various GMs and owners of the original league from 1983-85.

It was neat because it united old and new fans together to see the history of the USFL. For those who watched the original, they got to watch players from Reggie White, Hershal Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and many others who went on to make a name for themselves and get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Keeping the USFL name is a must, not the NSFL. I don’t think the NSFL is going to fly as it is too close to the NFL brand and that might cause them to block the potential new league from using that name.

Next, it’s the teams. As mentioned above, the potential new league is looking at 10 to 12 teams, not 16 with most of them playing in a hub model. Personally, I think all 16 teams should play with half of them playing in their own stadiums and others in a hub model.

When it comes to relocation, the USFL owns trademarks from The Spring League. The Seattle Sea Dragons should relocate to Baltimore to become the Jousters. Second, the Houston Roughnecks can relocate to Tampa Bay and revive the Bandits. Third, the Vegas Vipers could relocate to Canton, Ohio, and call themselves Aviators since the Wright Brothers were born in Dayton, Ohio, and the Arlington Renegades could relocate to Oklahoma and adopt the Outlaws name.

For teams that need to be rebranded, the Orlando Guardians should take the Renegades name, and San Antonio should take the Bulls name.

The new league should keep Birmingham, St. Louis, San Antonio, Michigan, Memphis, and Canton as the cities to have their own stadiums without sharing them with another team. In addition, Houston and New Orleans should also have their own stadium without sharing it with another team.

As for the hub model, I think the Philadelphia Stars and New Jersey Generals should play either at SHI Stadium, Red Bull Arena, or Subaru Park. Next, the D.C. Defenders and Baltimore Jousters share Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The Canton Aviators share its stadium with the Pittsburgh Maulers, and the Orlando Renegades and Tampa Bandits share Camping World Stadium. Put this together and the divisions would look something like this.

Having 16 teams would create legitimate competition and rivalries. As for the television networks, the XFL airs on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and FX, while the USFL airs their games on Peacock, FOX, FS1, NBC, and USA Network. The new league should eliminate ESPN2, USA Network, and FX from the television deal but keep the rest. With 16 teams, they could air one game on Friday night, three on Saturday and Sunday, and one on Monday night.

When it comes to the season schedule, the league should play ten games with two playoff games from April to July. With 16 teams split into four divisions, there can be a rotation every season. For example, you can have the East Division play the South Division, and the Southeast Division play the North Division. Next season, the East Division plays the North Division, and the Southeast Division plays the South Division. For the playoffs, the conferences will have two division winners battle each other with the winners advancing to the championship game.

Both leagues will release more details about the potential merger at a later date. Hopefully, the merger will benefit the USFL to help them grow in the future.