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Will The USFL Play All Of Its 2022 Schedule In Birmingham?

Fox NFL PREGAME


The league is supposed to begin play in the spring.

Birmingham, Alabama business and elected officials want to bring all United States Football League teams to town in 2022. The new USFL seems to be little more than a paper league with just the logos and trademarks of the original business which technically lasted from 1982 to 1986 and played just three years, 1983, 1984 and 1985. The new league is supposed to start in the spring of 2022 so the clock is running and a place or places to play have to be found quickly. Birmingham had a World Football League franchise in the two years of that league’s existence in 1974 and 1975 and the Birmingham Stallions football business was a part of the USFL between 1983 and 1985. Birmingham business leaders tried to get the National Football League to put a franchise in the city following the demise of the WFL in 1975 but were turned down. Birmingham had a team in the Alliance of American Football in the only year of that league’s existence in 2019. The USFL’s Birmingham plan seems pretty simple. The USFL would play all 43 contests, 40 regular-season games, plus two semifinal playoff games and a championship showdown, in the city in a bubble format. All eight teams would be housed in the city’s hotels and would use local facilities for practices and games.

The USFL does have a TV deal in place with FOX Sports, which also owns a minority equity stake in the company that owns the USFL, and they will be carrying USFL games  and will invest $150 million over a three-year period into the product  but the USFL will need more money than just the FOX dollars.  Other than old team names, very little is known about the USFL plans. Spring football has been unsuccessful but people keep trying to make it a go.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Tampa Bay Bandits left guard Chuck Pitcock, right, lands a right hook to the mask of Oakland Invaders? defensive end Dave Browning, whose head goes reeling back during the first half of their USFL game, June 30, 1985 in Oakland. The skirmish took place after a Tampa Bay fumble and the Invaders? Browning was given a unnecessary roughness penalty on the play in their first round playoff game. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
News Talk Florida: News Talk Florida Staff
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