United Football League 2024 Training Camp Details
UFL teams report to training camp in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 24 ahead of the newly merged XFL-USFL league's inaugural season, which kicks off on March 30.
All eight United Football League teams will have a maximum of 75 players on their rosters for camp. In a month’s time, squads will be pared down to 50 for the regular season. 600 players will report to camp, but that number will drop to 400 before the season begins.
A year ago, the XFL had its eight teams paired up at four different locations in the Arlington area for training camp.
The merged USFL-XFL league will carry out the same setup, but with a different wrinkle than last year’s centralized hub.
XFL and USFL teams will be practicing together for the duration of training camp. In one instance, the partnered teams will be squaring off against each other when the season starts.
Each team from the USFL Conference will be paired up with the XFL Conference team below it for the duration of training camp ahead of the UFL's inaugural season.
Arglington and Birmingham, the league’s two champions from last year, will be sharing space at Choctaw Stadium, the site of the Renegades-Stallions Week 1 showdown.
The setup provides a unique scenario where the teams get to see each other extensively in practice before they play one another for championship bragging rights in the opening UFL game on Saturday, March 30 (FOX).
The league has not disclosed the other three practice locations yet. A year ago, the XFL utilized the facilities of Vernon Newsom Stadium, Northwest ISD and Southlake Carroll in the DFW area.
Here are this year’s pairings of XFL and USFL conference teams:
- D.C. Defenders & Houston Roughnecks
- San Antonio Brahmas & Michigan Panthers
- St. Louis Battlehawks & Memphis Showboats
Arlington Renegades & Birmingham Stallions
The Defenders-Roughnecks pairing is a unique one. While technically, brand wise, it represents two XFL teams from 2023. The Roughnecks are the USFL's Houston Gamblers with a new paint job.
There's no word yet if the UFL will have scrimmages or any preseason games during training camp. If they do, it's likely that none of them will be publicized or broadcast.
Last year, the XFL scheduled half games near the conclusion of training camp as a dress rehearsal not only for the players and coaches, but also the league's broadcast partner, Disney. However, an unorthodox ice storm in the Arlington area wiped out those plans.
Because almost all eight UFL teams have built-in continuity with so many returning coaches and players headed to their second and third years together, growing pains heading into the opening week of the regular season should be limited.
As a result, and also due in part to a unique dispersal draft that saw 16 teams condense their talent base into eight, the quality of play in the UFL should be top-notch right out of the gate.
Week 1
Saturday, March 30
- Birmingham Stallions at Arlington Renegades, 1 p.m. (FOX)
- St. Louis Battlehawks at Michigan Panthers, 4 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, March 31
- D.C. Defenders at San Antonio Brahmas, noon (ESPN)
- Memphis Showboats at Houston Roughnecks, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
You can find Mike Mitchell on X @ByMikeMitchell.
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