The rivalry continues

I have a confession to make.

When it was announced that the United Football League would be divided into the USFL and XFL divisions, I rolled my eyes.

I had really, really hoped both those brands would be retired.

As a true believer in USFL Prime, I didn’t like seeing the initialism revived in 2022 and slapped on a league that had nothing in common with the original other than team nicknames. And I’ve never understood the fascination with the XFL identity.

But you know what?

It makes sense for the maiden voyage of the UFL. Last year I watched fans of each league claim the circuit they followed was better, even though they had no way to prove it.

Now they can – sorta.

“I think it’s gonna be exciting,” said Birmingham Stallions boss Skip Holtz, who was in Birmingham earlier this month to preview his third season coaching spring pro football. “I mean, there’s been a lot of talk about the UFL. Not only is it gonna be the kickoff of the merger, but there’s also been a lot of debate and argument.

“Which was the better league? ‘Well, I think the USFL was better,’ and then someone else says, ‘I think the XFL was better.’ Well, we’re gonna have an opportunity to go head-to-head to start this thing out.”

Holtz guided Birmingham to championships in both seasons of the modern USFL, while the Arlington Renegades went from a 4-6 regular season team to league titlists in XFL 3.0’s 2023 season.

On March 30, the teams will lift the lid on the UFL at Choctaw Stadium, with the winner claiming braggin’ rights. Both champions will return plenty of familiar faces, and both have bolstered their rosters through free agent signings and dispersal drafts.

Division teams will play each other twice, and fill out a 10-game regular season slate with one game against each of the four teams in the opposite division.

Birmingham, the Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers make up the USFL Division, with Arlington, the DC Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks repping the XFL Division.

Thus, USFL and XFL devotees can spend two and a half months comparing pigskin sizes and know that the championship game will feature a rep from the “old” leagues. *

* The Houston Roughnecks were an XFL team in 2023, but are in the USFL Division in 2024 because they assumed the staff and player rights of the USFL Houston Gamblers. So, if the Roughnecks win the crown, it’ll count as a USFL “victory.”

“I think this is a first step to really solidifying spring pro football, and I applaud everybody involved,” Holtz said. “Fox, ABC, ESPN, the Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Dany Garcia, RedBird Capital … I mean, everybody that has been involved in making this happen. I think this is a great move. I think normally when you have mergers of this magnitude there’s  like a three-year process, and we’ve got this thing ready to go this spring.”

In terms of the product on the field, it should be really good. The USFL has shown for two seasons and the XFL, one, that there are plenty of players who can play at the pro level and play well. With only eight teams, every roster will be loaded with NFL near-misses – as well as guys who might be able to move up.

And with the “spring wars” over and each team playing home games in their home stadiums thanks to the hybrid-hub, there is greater incentive for more fans to buy tickets.

That’s not a problem for the Battlehawks – who averaged 35,104 fans during the 2023 XFL season – but it was an issue in other cities.

Average per game XFL attendance was 14,443 – and that was bolstered by St. Louis’ impressive support. The next best draw in the third reboot of the XFL was the Brahmas, who pulled in 14,983 fans per game.

In the USFL, the Stallions would occasionally flirt with 18,000 or so fans, but often drew several thousand less. Memphis reportedly averaged around 15,000 last year and Michigan, 10,000. No one knows for sure because the USFL wouldn’t release attendance figures.

“When you look at this new league, one thing that the XFL did was an excellent job of really supporting those programs,” Holtz said. “We want to make (47,100-seat Protective Stadium in Birmingham) the one place that everybody in the country says, ‘We don’t want to go there because they have a distinct home field advantage because of the way this community comes out supports this football team.’”

And while gate receipts will be important to the survival of the UFL, TV viewers will remain the primary gauge of success.

Last year the broadcast partners of the USFL – Fox, FS1 and NBC – pretended the XFL didn’t exist.

On XFL telecasts on ABC and ESPN, nary a word was uttered about the USFL.

Such pettiness no longer serves a purpose, and the result is more awareness across the airwaves.

“I think there’s a need for spring football for two reasons,” Holtz explained. “It’s one of the most popular sports in the country right now and to be able to have football year-round for people to support, to watch, to cheer for, to experience, is important.

“But I also think there’s a need for it because these young men are getting opportunities that wouldn’t be here if not for the UFL. You’re going to have a bunch of players that are going to have this opportunity to get on the field and showcase their talents and hopefully get another crack at the NFL.”

I don’t know which former league the first champion of the United Football League will come from, but I do hope in 2025 the USFL-XFL rivalry is laid to rest.

By year two of the UFL, it’ll be time to build for the future and leave a divided past behind.