Last month, the United Football League announced the launching of the expansion process by accepting proposals from prospective markets looking to bring spring football to their communities and be a part of the growth of the sport.
According to Sports Illustrated UFL writer Mike Mitchell, the league is looking to expand by two teams in 2026 where each conference would get a team, and expand to two more teams in 2027 for a total of 12 teams. In Mitchell’s report, the league is considering reviving the teams that were eliminated from the merger.
They include the Philadelphia Stars, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Vegas Vipers, Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons, Houston Gamblers, and the Pittsburgh Maulers. The Houston Roughnecks brand was transferred to the Gamblers and placed in the USFL Conference.
The UFL is searching to identify the strongest markets to support its ambitious growth goals. In addition, they are looking at several core attributes when selecting its new cities, including fan interest, existing sports culture, geography and population, venue, and infrastructure availability.
First things first, the league should 100% revive the teams that were left out even if they have to move them to a different city before they start adding new markets. For most of these teams, they were never given a fair shot at playing games at their own stadiums.
When you look at the landscape of the league, the UFL has a heavy presence in the south with five teams and three teams in the central and northeast markets. For 2026, the league needs to concentrate on adding teams to the northeast markets.
When it comes to the USFL Conference, the UFL needs to bring back the Philadelphia Stars. If you read my previous articles, the Stars could play at Subaru Park, home of the Philadelphia Union. The stadium’s capacity is 18,500, which would be a perfect home for them. The Stars are a historic spring football franchise and the league needs to bring them back for 2026.
For the XFL Conference, the league should consider moving the Guardians back to New York. The Guardians could play at MetLife Stadium for one season and in 2027 move to Etihad Park. Etihad Park is a new stadium that will be the home of the NYCFC soccer team and the stadium is located next to Citi Field.
The new stadium’s capacity is 25,000 and would be a good home for the Guardians. The benefit of bringing back the Guardians to New York is they can renew their feud with the D.C. Defenders. In 2020, they played each other one time but we never got to see them play against each other for the second time at MetLife Stadium due to the pandemic.
When it comes to TV ad market size, New York and number one and Philadelphia is number four. In 2024, neither market ranked in the top 15 in viewership, and for a good reason. If you do not have a presence in the region, you will not have a lot of people watching the games.
Bringing back Philadelphia and New York would help establish the league’s presence in the northeast and could have people returning to watch the games. The UFL has a long road ahead of them. If they can continue their growth after the 2025 season, New York and Philadelphia should be included heading into the 2026 season.
