| 2026 UFL season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | United Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Duration | Regular season: February 27– May 3 Playoffs: May 10 – 17 |
| Number of games | 43 (40 regular-season games, 3 postseason games) |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 |
| Streaming partner(s) | ESPN app, Fox One, DAZN |
| Draft | |
| Picked by | San Antonio Brahmas |
| 2026 UFL Championship | |
The 2026 UFL season is the upcoming third season of the United Football League.
In July 2025, the UFL sold a large minority stake of itself to Impact Capital, a private equity fund owned by multibillionaire sports drink founder Mike Repole, who assumed direction of the league's business operations. [1] [2]
Even before Repole's management had been made public, news broke that the entire USFL Conference was being potentially shopped for relocation to potential expansion markets, [3] due to a number of factors: Birmingham and Houston due to declining and underperforming attendance, Michigan due to exorbitant stadium costs at Ford Field and an unwillingness to use the only other viable stadium Rynearson Stadium, [4] (while later reports suggested that the Panthers' future could be tied to the planned AlumniFi Field, a 15,000-seat stadium scheduled to open in southwest Detroit in 2027 as the new home of Detroit City FC [5] ) and Memphis due to the death of sponsor Fred Smith and even worse attendance. [6] Repole first addressed the Birmingham Stallions by challenging the Stallions fan base to purchase 5,000 season ticket deposits in order to keep the team in Alabama; [7] though the drive fell short of that number, Repole was impressed by the speed in which the city had invested in 2,200 season tickets and a corporate suite that had not yet even been put up for sale and confirmed the Stallions were safe from relocation for 2025, but that he hoped the city would purchase 15,000 to 20,000 tickets per game for the upcoming season to continue beyond that. [8] His overall target for attendance across the league is between 10,000 and 15,000 fans per game, compensating by using smaller, more intimate stadiums that would avoid the empty seats and lack of ambiance that Repole felt made the games feel like "a COVID game." [2]
Among potential relocation targets, Columbus, Ohio had been named as a potential new market for the UFL in 2026 as early as April 2025. [9] [10] The UFL confirmed the addition of a Columbus UFL team shortly after Repole's arrival. [1] Other cities mentioned in early reports such as Boise, Idaho and Lexington, Kentucky either denied having heard from the league or stated they could not host games in 2026. [11]
Though the UFL had initially planned to expand to 10 teams for 2026, [12] Repole paused those plans and chose to keep the league at eight teams for 2026, with intent to begin the oft-delayed expansion by 2028 [1] and have a 16-team league by 2035. [2]
As of August 2025, the following teams are confirmed to be playing the 2026 season:
Each team will carry 64-man rosters to training camp, compared to 75 in the 2024 season, with regular season rosters set at 50 (43 active on game day). [13]
This is the second and final year of the UFL's collective bargaining agreement with the United Football Players Association. Under the agreement, player minimum salaries will be set at $6,400 per game, with each player also receiving seven months of health insurance and access to year-round coverage under COBRA. [14] [15] UFL players will also be entitled for "players accolade bonuses" for Player of the week ($1,000), Player of the year ($5,000), and MVP ($7,500), with winners of the 2026 UFL Championship Game winning a $5,000 per-player bonus. [13]
The 2025 UFL draft is set for some time in September. [16] The delay in the draft from its previous scheduling in July was in part because a large number of the players who were drafted in 2024 (including first overall selection Jason Bean) had opted to remain in the NFL, [17] prompting the league to place its draft after NFL preseason cuts and practice squad assignments to better assess who will be available. [18] The San Antonio Brahmas, by virtue of finishing last in the league in 2025 (and not being scheduled against the second-last team in Week 10 of the regular season, which would have triggered a rule granting the winner of that game the first overall selection), will hold the first overall selection.
Beginning in the 2025–26 offseason, UFL players who have accrued two years under contract to the same team will be allowed to test free agency. [19] [20]
After initially implying that he would be joining the Tennessee State Tigers staff and leaving his position as interim head coach, Shannon Harris agreed to stay on as the DC Defenders' head coach on a permanent basis. He will work both jobs for their upcoming seasons. [21]
This is the fourth year of the league's agreement with Arlington, Texas, to serve as the league's centralized hub. Repole indicated that the hub model would be continuing for 2026 but that time in individual markets would be increased (he mentioned potential two- to three-day stays during game weeks) so that teams can build followings in their home cities. [2]
The UFL will continue to follow its model of a ten-week regular season with each team playing its conference rivals twice (once home and away) and each other team once. In a late August 2025 interview, Repole indicated that the season would likely run from the weekend of "March 1 through the end of June." [22] This would be four weeks earlier than previous years and closer to the XFL's post-Super Bowl window.
In the United States, the television rights for the UFL are held by ESPN in the fourth season of a five-year deal, [23] and league co-owner Fox.