Near the end of The Spring League season, we learned that the United States Football League (USFL) would be retuning in spring of 2022 on FOX. Now, we’re possibly learning some new details on the upcoming season.
Jon Paepcke of WVTM 13 (Birmingham NBC Affiliate), the USFL is in talks with BHM/BJCC to play all of the leagues 2022 games in Birmingham, AL. According to the report, most of the games would be held at Protective Stadium, with the remaining played at Legion Field.
BREAKING: Multiple sources tell us there are ongoing discussions between BHM/BJCC and Fox-owned USFL to play all of the league's games in the Magic City as early as next year. 75-80% would be at @ProtectiveStdm, the rest at @Legion_Field.
— @JonWVTM13 (@JonWVTM13) October 11, 2021
This comes as no surprise. Earlier this year we reported that Birmingham City Council President William Parker had planned on meeting with the league to bring a team to the city. With this news coming out, it seems the meeting went well.
Protective Stadium is new to the city, hosting its first event earlier this month. The new stadium is the new home of the UAB Blazers and has a max capacity of 45,000.
Legion Stadium is probably familiar with plenty of spring football fans, being the former home of the Birmingham Stallions (AAF) in 2019. Not to mention, they were also home to the Birmingham Stallions of the original USFL. Legion Stadium also boasts a max capacity of 75,000, which is a huge number to fill.
Paepcke also states that the proposal would include a ten-game season with two semi-final matchups and a championship. Bringing a total of 43-games in total to Alabama.
MORE DETAILS: The proposal includes a ten game season, with two semi-final matchups and a championship to total 43 games in all.
— @JonWVTM13 (@JonWVTM13) October 11, 2021
When the league was first announced, it was also revealed that FOX would have part ownership in the USFL. If this rumor tunes out to be true, there seems to be some more juicy details in the mix.
Paepcke also reports that there’s also a broadcast proposal in play which would see 25% of the games aired on USA, 25% on FOX Sports, 25% on FOX and 25% on NBC. This is huge, considering that FOX owns a majority stake in the USFL.
Interestingly enough, it was just announced last week that the FCF had inked a deal with NBC which will see all of its 2022 season aired on Peacock TV.
Possible USFL broadcast proposal: 25% of the games on USA Network, 25% on Fox Sports, 25% on Fox and 25% on NBC.
— @JonWVTM13 (@JonWVTM13) October 11, 2021
Earlier this year we reported on a number of trademarks that were filed by the USFL, and the Birmingham Stallions was one that stood out among the rest. When the news came out that there was potential interest in bringing the franchise back, there seemed to be a lot of interest from the local fans. Now, it looks as the city may get the full league (at least for 2022).
Now, when you add in the mix that the USFL may find themselves being shared between multiple broadcast partners, things seem to be on the up and up for the league.
The last piece of information we learned was that the USFL would be targeting to kickoff April 15th, with the Championship game taking place July 3rd.
The last that we heard from the league was that there were targeting at least eight teams, with a possible ten at play. It seemed as the franchises would be based out of their own cities, so we’ll just need to wait and see how everything shakes out.
Something to keep in mind, none of this is confirmed at the moment, and also looks to still be in the works. That being said, we expect to hear official news in the near future as time is running out between now and spring of 2022.
What do you think of the USFL hosting all of their games out of one central host city? Do you plan on tuning into the 2022 season? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
