The USFL is returning to the football field. The teams will be associated with different cities as they were in the league’s first iteration.
However, for 2022 they will have one home state: Alabama. The games will be played at Birmingham’s UAB’s Protective Stadium and Legion Field, home of the Crimson Tide
Let the jokes roll in about these teams being the second through ninth-best in the state.
The first game will feature the New Jersey Generals against the Birmingham Stallions and will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 16.
That game will air on both FOX and NBC, making it the first scheduled sporting event to air on competing broadcast networks since Super Bowl I in 1967, which was shown on both CBS and NBC.
We're coming to Birmingham!
Birmingham, AL will be the host city for the inaugural USFL season 🏟 pic.twitter.com/m2hQpVyonC
— USFL (@USFL) January 25, 2022
“The first game played in any new league is itself historical and having the USFL’s inaugural game simulcast by NBC and Fox makes it even more so,” said Eric Shanks, Fox Sports CEO and executive producer. “It’s rare when two competitors can come together and see how cooperation can lead to long-term benefit.”
In case you were wondering about how the rosters will come together: The eight-team league will hold a player selection meeting Feb. 22-23, and training camps will open March 21.
Each USFL team will carry a 38-man active roster, plus a seven-man practice squad, and players will receive base compensation and be eligible for victory bonuses.
The league revealed how the divisions will break down:
The North: the Generals, the Michigan Panthers, the Philadelphia Stars and the Pittsburgh Maulers.
The South: the Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits.