USFL Unveils Logos, Team Names Ahead of Spring 2022 Return
The United States Football League revealed its logos and team names on Monday ahead of its return to play in the spring of 2022.
The teams will be split evenly between two divisions. In the north, the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers will compete, while the southern division includes the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits. All eight teams were part of the league's initial run in the 1980s.
“These eight teams form the core of our initial league membership and will represent an exciting brand of professional football coming this spring," Brian Woods, USFL president of football operations, said in a statement. "We look forward to the start of our inaugural season.”
All the teams will play in one location, which has yet to be announced, and compete in a 10-game regular season.
There will then be semifinals between the top two teams in each division and a championship game between division winners.
The return campaign is set to begin mid-April and run through June, with most games expected to be played on both Saturdays and Sundays.
The league, which initially launched in 1983 but halted its operations after the '85 season, will utilize Fox Sports as its broadcast partner.
The first iteration of the league featured a number of standout players, including running back Herschel Walker and quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Steve Young. Future president Donald Trump was the part-owner of the Generals, though his eventual decision to try to make the spring football league into a fall football league played a key role in its demise.
In recent years, a number of different companies have tried to build successful spring football leagues. Among them, the Alliance of American Football suspended all operations despite being just eight weeks into its inaugural season and the XFL suspended its operations in April 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last October, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia announced plans to bring the league back for the spring of '22.
More on Spring Professional Football:
