Earlier this month we learned that the USFL was in talks with the city of Birmingham to host their 2022 season. If a deal is struck we’d see all eight USFL franchises based out of Birmingham. The city could host up to four teams in 2023, with all eight reporting to their respective cities by the third season. A majority of the games would be played out of Protective Stadium, with the remaining games and practices housed out of Legion Field.
Last week it seemed as both parties were close to finalizing a deal, in fact they were hoping to have everything completed by the 22nd. The last we left off, the city still needed $1.6M to secure the USFL in 2022, and expected to see outside investors come in to contribute.
Roy S. Johnson of AL.com reports that the city of Birmingham will contribute $500,000 to USFL expenses, with Jefferson county matching. This gives the league a total of $1 million to use towards expenses during the
After talking with the administration and a majority of the city council, we plan to recommend and approve the city of Birmingham to allocate up to $500,000 to help make this exciting opportunity a reality,” Councilman Hunter Williams told AL.com on Tuesday, hours after the new city council, with three new members, was sworn in. “This funding will be made possible through Birmingham’s [$3 per night] hotel surcharge that is earmarked for sports and tourism and will be matched from our partners at the Jefferson County Commission.”
FOX sent representatives to pitch the league to city officials last week in hopes to get everything ready for the season. Part of the deal would see Birmingham, AL get two spots for tourism during each game. Considering that the league is working towards splitting the games between FOX, FS1, NBC and USA, this could be great exposure for Birmingham.
The BJCC estimates costs to be $3,666.960 to host the league in a “bubble-like format. The breakdown includes weekly overhead ($1,019,600), weekly game day staffing ($1,436,150), weekly services provided by the City of Birmingham ($635,800), and equipment and labor for field conversions ($1,091,500).
Although it’s still not final, it looks like we’re getting close.
Do you plan on attending a USFL game in Birmingham? If you’re too far, will you tune in on TV? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
