2025 UFL season: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 7: | logo = United Football League 2024 logo black.png | caption = | duration = Regular season:<br /> March 28 – June 1<br />Playoffs:<br />June 7 – 14
| no_of_games = 43 (40 regular-season games, 3{{nbsp}}postseason games) | no_of_teams = 8 Line 27: | conf2_runner-up = | finals = [[2025 UFL championship game|2025 UFL Championship]] | finals_venue = TBD | finals_link = | finals_champ = Line 41: | draft = Draft | draft_link = 2024 UFL draft | top_pick = [[Jason Bean (American football)|Jason Bean]] (QB) | top_pick_link = | picked_by = [[Memphis Showboats (2022)|Memphis Showboats]] }} The '''2025 UFL season''' is the upcoming second season of the [[United Football League (2024)|United Football League]]. The [[2024 Birmingham Stallions season|Birmingham Stallions]] are the defending champions where they defeated the [[2024 San Antonio Brahmas season|San Antonio Brahmas]] 25–0 in the [[2024 UFL championship game|2024 UFL Championship Game]], the only shutout of the entire season, to win their third consecutive spring football championship, adding to their back-to-back championships in the rebooted USFL. ==Offseason== Line 56: ===Draft=== {{see also|2024 UFL draft}}
==Teams== As one of the conditions for approving the merger of the XFL and USFL, federal regulators were said to have "prefer(red) more opportunities" (eventual [[expansion team]]s) than the eight teams that were included in the 2024 season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCann |first=Michael |last2=Soshnick |first2=Scott |last3= |first3= |date=2023-11-30 |title=XFL, USFL Merger Approved by Federal Authorities |url=https://www.sportico.com/leagues/football/2023/xfl-usfl-merger-approved-1234748527/ |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Sportico.com |language=en-US}}</ref> No such expansion is planned for 2025, nor are any relocations, as [[Daryl Johnston]] stated that the ticket sales in most of the poorer-selling markets could be improved by showing stability and following a more "traditional offseason calendar."<ref name=year2evolution>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Eric |date=June 18, 2024 |title=UFL 2024: Year 2 evolution to include more innovation, player development |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ufl-2024-year-2-evolution-to-include-more-innovation-player-development/ar-BB1oskN8 |website=Fox Sports on MSN}}</ref> On September 13, 2024, the Houston Roughnecks announced that they would be returning to [[TDECU Stadium]] for the 2025 season, following renovations to that stadium. The previous incarnation of the [[Houston Roughnecks (2020)|Roughnecks]] had played at TDECU in 2020 and 2023; the current Roughnecks had played the 2024 season at [[Rice Stadium (Rice University)|Rice Stadium]] while TDECU Stadium was being renovated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Anthony |date=2024-09-13 |title=Houston Roughnecks to Return to TDECU Stadium for 2025 Season |url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/ufl-news/houston-roughnecks-to-return-to-tdecu-stadium-for-2025-season |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=UFL |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Mark Perry|title=PR: Roughnecks to Play 2025 UFL Season at University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium|url=https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/pr-roughnecks-to-play-2025-ufl-season-at-university-of-houstons-tdecu-stadium/|website=uflnewshub.com|date=September 12, 2024|access-date=September 12, 2024|archive-date=September 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912172656/https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/pr-roughnecks-to-play-2025-ufl-season-at-university-of-houstons-tdecu-stadium/|url-status=live}}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" Line 81 ⟶ 83: !scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | '''[[Houston Roughnecks (2024)|Houston Roughnecks]]''' | style="text-align:center;" | [[Houston|Houston, Texas]] | style="text-align:center;" | [[TDECU Stadium|TDECU Stadium]]
| style="text-align:center;" | | style="text-align:center;" | 2020 | style="text-align:center;" | [[Curtis Johnson (American football coach)|Curtis Johnson]] Line 89 ⟶ 91: | style="text-align:center;" | [[Memphis, Tennessee]] | style="text-align:center;" | [[Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;" | | style="text-align:center;" | 2023 | style="text-align:center;" | [[ |- !scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | [[Michigan Panthers (2022)|'''Michigan Panthers''']] Line 145 ⟶ 147: On August 12, 2024, the United Football League Players Association released a statement announcing that [[United Steelworkers]], which had represented the association (and its predecessor for the USFL), would no longer represent the league's players. The statement also strongly recommended that the players organize under another established union and not affiliate with the [[United Football Players Association]], with which the USW and UFLPA had fallen out in 2023, without a "confidential background check."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Mark |date=2024-08-12 |title=UFL Players Seek New Representation as USW/UFLPA Partnership Ends |url=https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/ufl-players-seek-new-representation-as-usw-uflpa-partnership-ends/ |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=UFL News Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> == Three of the four coaches who came into the UFL by way of the XFL—Arlington's [[Bob Stoops]], St. Louis's [[Anthony Becht]] and DC's [[Reggie Barlow]]—are believed to be reaching the end of their guaranteed XFL contracts, and will be subject to new terms that the USFL coaches and all assistants agreed upon in 2024 that were less generous than the 2023 XFL's were.<ref name="Pay">{{Cite web|title=UFL Pay Structure for Coaches, Players: What We Know|url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/news/ufl-pay-structure-for-coaches-players-what-we-know-new-years-deadline-new-contracts-xfl-usfl-merger|website=SI.com |date=January 12, 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref> (The lone exception, San Antonio's [[Wade Phillips]], is on the second year of a two-year contract extension he signed prior to the merger.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Mike |date=2024-08-12 |title=Which UFL Coach Will Be Next To Depart? |url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/ufl-news/which-ufl-coach-will-be-next-to-depart |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=Sports Illustrated |language=en-US}}</ref>) Stoops, the league's longest-tenured coach and the only remaining coach from the inaugural 2020 XFL season, was noncommittal about returning after the 2024 season, stating he was open to returning for 2025 but that "you never know what the structure is going to look like."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Anthony |date=2024-05-30 |title=Arlington Renegades Coach Bob Stoops Addresses UFL Future |url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/ufl-news/arlington-renegades-coach-bob-stoops-address-ufl-future |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=[[Sports Illustrated]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Becht announced he had committed to a third season as the Battlehawks' coach in August 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Florio |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Florio |date=2024-08-09 |title=Anthony Becht will spend UFL offseason working Jets games |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/anthony-becht-will-spend-ufl-offseason-working-jets-games |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=[[ProFootballTalk]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Line 158 ⟶ 160: |Memphis Showboats |[[John DeFilippo]] |[[Ken Whisenhunt]]
|Resigned |DeFilippo had coached the Showboats in 2024 after coaching the contracted [[New Orleans Breakers (2022)|New Orleans Breakers]] in 2023, with a combined record of 9-11 ({{winpct|9|11}}), with his season with the Breakers at 7-3 ({{winpct|7|3}}) and the Showboats at 2-8 ({{winpct|2|8}}). His resignation coincides with the resignation of general manager [[Bill Polian#Personal life|Dennis Polian]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-03 |title=Memphis Showboats GM Stepping Down After One Season |url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/ufl-news/memphis-showboats-gm-stepping-down-after-one-season |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=Sports Illustrated |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-10 |title=John DeFillippo resigns as coach of Memphis Showboats |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/john-defillippo-resigns-as-coach-of-memphis-showboats |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> Whisenhunt had spent the 2023 and part of the 2024 seasons as special assistant to head coach [[Kalen DeBoer]] at [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|Alabama]]; he had extensive experience as an offensive coordinator at the college and NFL levels, and two stints as an NFL head coach for the [[Arizona Cardinals]] and [[Tennessee Titans]]. He was hired along with new general manager [[Jim Monos]] September 23, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dylan |first=Jonah |title=Former Cardinals, Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt hired by Memphis Showboats |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/2024/09/23/memphis-showboats-ken-whisenhunt-ufl-spring-football-jim-monos-john-defilippo/75349821007/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=The Commercial Appeal |language=en-US}}</ref> |}
==Season structure== Line 171 ⟶ 172: ===Regular season=== The league is divided into two conferences, the [[United States Football League (2022)|USFL Conference]] and the [[XFL (2020)|XFL Conference]], each a continuation of its respective league. Each team will play a ten-game schedule with no bye weeks, playing two games against each conference rival (one home and one away) and one game against each team in the other conference, all eight teams playing in their home markets, starting on March 28.<ref name="SIBrandon">{{Cite web|title=UFL President Reveals League's Future Plans, Schedule, Vision|url=https://www.si.com/fannation/ufl/news/ufl-president-russ-brandon-future-plans-schedule-vision|website=SI.com |date=January 4, 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=year2evolution/><ref>{{Cite web|author=Mark Perry|title=PR: United Football League (UFL) Returns March 28, Friday Night Games|url=https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/pr-united-football-league-ufl-returns-march-28-friday-night-games/|website=uflnewshub.com|date=September 17, 2024|access-date=September 17, 2024|archive-date=September 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917235524/https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/pr-united-football-league-ufl-returns-march-28-friday-night-games/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Sue Levine|title=All The UFL Needs For A Great 2025 Is Fantasy Football|url=https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/all-the-ufl-needs-for-a-great-2025-is-fantasy-football/|website=uflnewshub.com|date=September 18, 2024|access-date=September 18, 2024|archive-date=September 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920194301/https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/all-the-ufl-needs-for-a-great-2025-is-fantasy-football/|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to an increase in stadium conflicts with the [[Alamodome]] in 2025 compared to previous years, in particular the dome's hosting of the [[2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament]] Final Four, the [[San Antonio Brahmas]] will only host four home games in 2025. Both of the Brahmas' in-division games against the [[St. Louis Battlehawks]] will be hosted at [[The Dome at America's Center]] in St. Louis, giving the Battlehawks six home games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Joey |date=August 21, 2024 |title=St. Louis Battlehawks to host extra sixth home game in 2025 season |url=https://fox2now.com/sports/battlehawks/st-louis-battlehawks-to-host-extra-sixth-home-game-in-2025-season/ |access-date=August 21, 2024 |website=[[KTVI]]}}</ref> ===Postseason=== The postseason will have four teams, with the first and second-ranked team in each conference playing in the [[XFL Championship|XFL Championship Game]] and [[USFL championship game|USFL Championship Game]], the winners of which will advance to the [[2025 UFL championship game|2025 UFL Championship Game]] on June 14, which will be held at a neutral site chosen among the league's eight markets as a reward for strong fan support and attendance.<ref name=wowitsback>{{Cite web |last=Durando |first=Stu |date=March 14, 2024 |title='Wow, this market is back': St. Louis gets UFL championship game |url=https://www.stltoday.com/sports/professional/other/wow-this-market-is-back-st-louis-gets-ufl-championship-game/article_913892f4-e213-11ee-ad36-cf56a046343f.html |access-date=March 14, 2024 |website=STLtoday.com |language=en}}</ref> <!--==Standings== {{2025 UFL standings}} Line 323 ⟶ 326: ===Postseason=== The playoffs will start on June {{2025 UFL playoffs}} Line 452 ⟶ 455: ==Media== ===Television=== In the United States, the television rights for the UFL are held by [[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox]] and [[ESPN]] (which is under its third season of a five-year deal),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |date=May 17, 2022 |title=Disney Strikes Deal to Put XFL on ESPN, FX, ABC |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/disney-xfl-rights-deal-espn-fx-1235269996/ |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> <!--==Reception== {{Empty section|date=June 2024}}--> | |||