The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant team, playing in all three championship games and winning the latter two. They played their first two seasons in Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Stars before relocating to Baltimore, where they played as the Baltimore Stars for the USFL's final season. Coached by Jim Mora, the Stars won a league-best 41 regular season games and 7 playoff games.
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly Fawcett Stadium, is a football stadium and entertainment complex in Canton, Ohio. It is a major component of Hall of Fame Village, located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The venue hosts the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and serves as the home field for the football teams from Canton McKinley High School. It also served as the home field for Malone University from 1993 to 2018 and Walsh University from 1998 to 2022. It also served as the home stadium for a number of other Canton-area high schools.
The Rubber Bowl was a stadium located in Akron, Ohio, that was primarily used for American football. From its opening in 1940 until 2008, it served as the home field of the Akron Zips football team of the University of Akron prior to the opening of InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field. Throughout its history, it also hosted concerts, professional football, high school football, and other events. It was named after the predominance of the tire industry in Akron. The stadium had a seating capacity of 35,202 and was located in southeastern Akron next to Akron Fulton International Airport and Derby Downs, about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of downtown.
On May 24, 1982, the United States Football League (USFL) reached an agreement with ABC and ESPN on television rights. The money for inaugural 1983 season would be a total of $13 million: $9 million from ABC and $4 million from ESPN.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels football program represents Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in college football, competing at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The school has traditionally had much success on the football field, having won 21 OVC conference titles and two Division I FCS National Championships in 1979 and 1982, and reaching the finals in 1980 and 1981. Much of the success came during the long tenure of head coach Roy Kidd from 1964 to 2002. In 1990, Eastern honored Kidd by naming the school's football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium. Eastern Kentucky's football team was able to secure 31 consecutive winning seasons before finally posting a losing season record in 2009.
The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a semi-pro full-contact Women's American football league that began play in 2009. It is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's football league in the U.S. Since 2016, the league has operated with three competitive levels: Pro, Division 2 and Division 3. The league is owned and operated by Jeff King and Lisa Gibbons King of Exeter, California. Lisa King is also a wide receiver for the WFA's Cali War.
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country. Currently, there are multiple professional football leagues in North America: the two longest-running leagues are the National Football League (NFL) in the U.S, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) in Canada. American football leagues have existed in Europe since the late 1970s, with competitive leagues all over Europe hiring American Imports to strengthen rosters. The Austrian Football League and German Football League top division are known as the best leagues in Europe. The Japan X-League is also a strong league that has a long history since 1971. The NFL has existed continuously since being so named in 1922.
The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and are owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The Renegades play their home games at Choctaw Stadium. In 2023, The Renegades had a regular season record of 4-6 and were 2-0 in the playoffs, and were crowned XFL Champions. They were a part of the UFL merger in 2024, and started the 2024 season against the USFL Champion Birmingham Stallions.
The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is owned and operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The Defenders play their home games at Audi Field. The Defenders have a regular season record of 12–3 (.800), the second-highest win percentage among UFL teams as of its 2024 season. They were also the top team in the 2023 XFL, boasting a 9–1 record and scoring 49 more points than the next closest team, the St. Louis Battlehawks.
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football minor league that began play on April 16, 2022. It is now one of the two-component conferences of the United Football League (UFL), along with the XFL.
The 2022 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League, and the first season of a league using that name since 1985. The season began on April 16 and concluded on July 3. The league's eight teams represent various geographical locales and associated team names that were part of the 1984 season of the original USFL. For 2022, all regular-season games were played in Birmingham, Alabama, at Protective Stadium and at Legion Field.
The Birmingham Stallions are a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The Stallions compete in the United Football League (UFL). The Stallions are owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. They play their home games at Protective Stadium. They have won two USFL championship games since its founding, defeating the Philadelphia Stars 33–30 in 2022 and defeating the Pittsburgh Maulers 28–12 in 2023.
The New Jersey Generals were a professional American football team. The Generals competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member club of the league's North division. Though named after the 1980s USFL team of the same name, which played at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Generals never played in New Jersey nor the New York metropolitan area the original Generals represented, instead playing its home games at the USFL's hub at Protective Stadium and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022, and at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio in 2023 under the USFL's stadium sharing model. The Generals were one of eight teams that joined the USFL in 2022.
The Pittsburgh Maulers were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but played their home games in Canton, Ohio. The Maulers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) North division.
The United States Football League was a proposed American professional football minor league founded in 2008 and aimed to begin play on February 20, 2010. The league was also known as the New United States Football League to distinguish it from the 1983–85 league of the same name. During its lifetime, the league had three different owner groups, with the last one aimed to start a season in 2015, but the plans never materialized; it was not until 2022 that a new version of the USFL would come to fruition; none of these versions of the USFL are directly related to each other.
The 2023 USFL season was the second season of the United States Football League. The regular season started on April 15 and ended on June 18. The postseason began on June 24 and ended with the 2023 USFL Championship Game on July 1. The league expanded the locations their teams play to four total stadiums, adding Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Roughnecks compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team is owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The team was a founding member of the USFL, as the Houston Gamblers in 2022, named after the 1980s USFL team of the same name. Though named after the city of Houston, the 2020s Gamblers never played there under that brand, instead playing its home games as the guest of other USFL teams in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022 and Memphis, Tennessee in 2023. When the USFL and XFL merged to form the UFL in 2024, the Gamblers took over the branding of the original Houston Roughnecks that had played the 2020 and 2023 seasons in the XFL and will play in Houston at Rice Stadium.
The 2023 USFL championship game was an American football game that was played on July 1, 2023, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The contest determined the champion of the 2023 USFL season and was played between the Pittsburgh Maulers and the Birmingham Stallions, eventually crowning Birmingham the champion of the league for the second year in a row.
The 2024 UFL Championship Game will be an American football game to play on June 16, 2024, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The contest will determine the champion of the 2024 UFL season and will be played between the USFL Conference title winners and the XFL Conference title winners. The game will begin at 5:00 p.m. EDT and will air on Fox.
This timeline of the United Football League (UFL) tracks the history of each of the league's eight franchises from their enfranchisements in the XFL and USFL, through the merger of the two leagues, and to the present day.
