Four USFL Teams Cut From Merger With XFL

The merger between the XFL and USFL is taking shape. According to Pro Football Talk, the new league has informed the USFL Players Association that four teams from the USFL will be part of the merger. Those four teams are the Michigan Panthers, Houston Gamblers, Memphis Showboats and Birmingham Stallions. The four USFL teams not moving forward are the Pittsburgh Maulers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers and Philadelphia Stars. 

There is no word on which XFL teams will be part of the new league. It’s expected that four XFL teams will be chosen while the other four will be eliminated. The eight XFL teams who played in 2023 are the Arlington Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians, San Antonio Brahmas, DC Defenders, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis BattleHawks and Vegas Vipers. 

The XFL and USFL announced in September they plan to merge into one league. “If the transaction is consummated, the new league will establish best-in-class operations based on the most recent seasons of both leagues,” the leagues said. “This historic combination will anchor professional spring football with substantial capabilities and resources to ensure future growth and continue to enhance the development of the collective players, coaches, and staff that are coming together.” On Nov. 30, the merger was granted regulatory approval. The new professional football league is set to kick off on March 30, 2024. 

The USFL was founded in 2021 and began playing in 2022. The league is owned by the National Spring Football League Enterprises Co. (Fox Corporation) and former NFL fullback Daryl Johnson is the league president. The XFL was relaunched this year after ceasing operations in 2020. The league is owned by RedBird Captial, Dany Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

“We’ve been doing business for quite some time, Dany and I, starting in the late ’90s,” Johnson said in an interview with ESPN earlier this year. “We went into this XFL season determined and committed to playing the long game. So as the numbers were coming in, they were what we expected. We didn’t expect to blow the roof off the place with incredible numbers. You want to see steady growth, you want to get feedback from the fans and the audience, you want to see how the game plays on TV and then play the long game.”