To get into the USFL players must be 18 years old and should have graduated from their high school for at least three years.
Teams will draft only 80 players per year. USFL is a Minor League football brought back after the mid-1980s in the 2022 season. USFL begins its season every April.
It is another platform for all American football lovers so that they can still enjoy watching professional games even after the NFL has ended in February.
Owned by the Fox Sports’ National Spring Football League Enterprises organization, the current league does not hold any association with the old 1980s League, besides the name. Daryl Johnson is the League’s President.
With its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, the League consists of eight teams. Birmingham Stallion is the recent champion as well as the most-winning team in the League. The league has also garnered many TV partners like FS1, NBC, and DAZN.
How Does The USFL Draft Work?
USFL Draft is filled with 10 rounds, where 80 players are selected to be in one of the 8 teams.
For players’ draft eligibility, the regulations state that they must have completed their high school for no less than 3 years. Similarly, collegiate athletes should also have their remaining years waived or exhausted.
The overall pool contains more than 3000 football athletes that have eligibility to play in the league, however, the teams will select only 80 of the best ones. These players will be chosen per their skills in the subsequent draft order.
However, the 2022 draft did not work in this order, since the USFL was rejuvenated after a long time, and the teams had to fill each and every position. As a result, 280 athletes were drafted last year. In 2023, the franchises were only required to add some to their depth chart.
Draft Rules For The Teams
USFL Teams will have their draft order designated per their last season’s performance. Penalties will be enforced for franchises that break any sort of regulations.
Like the NFL draft, USFL seeks to balance the draft order for the worst-performing teams in the previous seasons. The League winners will get the last slot of every round, while the worst performers will get the 1st picks.
For instance, in the 2023’s draft, Birmingham Stallions received the last selection since they had won the championship. Similarly, New Orleans Breakers had 5th picks since they proceeded to the divisional round.
The worst performers were two teams, Michigan Panthers and Pittsburgh Maulers who each got the 1st and 2nd pick respectively. 1st pick rules state that there will be a Week 10 game between the two worst teams and the victorious one will receive the ultimate draft pick.
New Jersey Generals qualified for the Divisional Championship, but they committed an offseason violation, which led them to gain a penalty of no 1st round picks. All the subsequent rounds featured them getting the 8th picks.
List Of Top College Players Drafted In The 2023 USFL Draft
- Jarrett Horst – Michigan State
- Lindsey Scott Jr. – Incarnate Word
- Chase Brice – Appalachian State
- Mason Brooks – Mississippi State
- Tyler Scott – Cincinnati
- Alfred Edwards – Utah State
- Kadeem Telfort – UAB
- Tanner Morgan – Minnesota
- Malik Hamm – Lafayette
- Justin Ford – Montana
- Isaiah Bolden – Jackson State
- Noah Taylor – Virginia
- Anderson Hardy – Appalachian State
- Quinton Barrow – Grand Valley State
- Adrian Martinez – Kansas State
How Long Has The USFL Been Around?
USFL has been around for more than 40 years in the American sports Market. They were first established in 1982.
The idea for this League was brought by Davis Dixon, the businessman who aided in the creation of the New Orleans Saints. He believed that this would be a good way to keep the Football community engaged during the NCAA and NFL off-seasons every year.
With the League’s first season in 1983, it operated till the 1985 season. During the short years of its initial existence, the teams signed many top collegiate athletes like Herschel Walker, Reggie White, and Mike Rozier.
The first championship was won by Michigan Panthers in 1983. There were many experienced NFL coaches that made the League a great American football product. Although they had good players and marketing opportunities, they still failed initially.
In October 2021, USFL announced its return, with Fox Corporation as the Minority owner. They planned to make their inaugural season starting April of 2022 and planned the salary cap and schedule accordingly per team.
Why Did The USFL Fail?
USF failed due to financial insecurities, ownership changes, and multiple relocations that finally led to its demise in 1986.
Dixon had developed his plan for the League’s success in the long run. This plan contained ways to gain top-level stadiums and establish connections with major TV networks to broadcast games annually. However, many teams started to have their own plans.
There were many ownership changes and relocations, which made many teams unstable in the short run. The teams did not have the backing and investment of the NFL teams. Moreover, the league clashed with NFL to get good stadiums too.
Struggles to find great stadiums led to frequent relocations and mergers. No salary cap regulations led to unstable paychecks, and teams drowned in finance due to this too.
The owners wanted to take one step further and merge with the NFL. So, they filed an anti-trust lawsuit from which they reaped only $3, and this was the final nail in the coffin. In total, the League saw a loss of $389 million as of 2021 terms.
USFL Salary Cap
USFL salary cap is $3 million for a single franchise. USFL Players earned at least $4500 per week in the 2022 season.
With the USFL’s cap lower than the whopping $208 million of the NFL’s, they also have a lower cap number compared to XFL teams. The active and inactive players will have differential wages in the 2023 season.
Players who are on the active roster can earn $5350 from the 2023 season. This is an increase of $850 from the previous season. If a footballer plays for the regular season consistently, then he can earn up to $53,500.
Similarly, the inactive players on the roster will earn a weekly wage of $2500. The practice squad members can earn up to $25000 per season. Championship winners get a bonus too.
USFL Expansion 2024
USFL does not have an official expansion plan for the 2024 season. It is a young football league that just started in 2022.
The League has yet to fully develop its home teams in their respective cities in order to build a relevant home market. For example, Philadelphia Stars doesn’t play its games in Philadelphia, but in Detroit’s Ford Field and Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
To add more teams will be an expensive procedure, and expanding west will be even more costly. Since there are no franchises on the West Coast, the traveling costs for the teams will increase significantly.
Having more than 3 west coast franchises can control travel costs, but adding multiple teams is very costly in itself.
What Cities Have USFL Teams?
Cities that contain USF teams include 1. Detroit 2. East Rutherford 3. Pittsburgh and more.
Although they are affiliated with a particular city, the majority of the teams still do not play their home games in their home area. The exceptional one is Birmingham Stallions and Memphis Showboats.
Here is the list of 8 teams with their city affiliation:
- New Jersey Generals – East Rutherford
- Pittsburgh Maulers – Pittsburgh
- Michigan Panthers – Detroit
- Philadelphia Stars – Philadelphia
- Birmingham Stallions – Birmingham
- New Orleans Breakers – New Orleans
- Houston Gamblers – Houston
- Memphis Showboats – Memphis
USFL Hub Cities
Hub cities in the USFL are 1. Birmingham 2. Canton 3. Detroit and 4. Memphis.
These hub cities are designed to decrease the travel and logistics costs for franchises. They have to take these necessary steps since they do not contain great revenue and a bigger market like NFL.
For instance, the North Division’s Michigan Panthers and Philadelphia Stars play in Detroit’s Ford Field, while the New Jersey Generals and Pittsburgh Maulers play in the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Why Is USFL Playing In One City?
USFL played in one city to save on travel and stadium costs. They played in Birmingham for their entire 2022 regular season.
However, the 2023 season contained more than one city for the regular season. Along with Birmingham, the franchises played in Canton, Ohio, and Memphis, Tennessee as well.
The League seeks to accomplish all 8 teams to gain their respective home stadium in the coming years. This will offer more relevance to the city’s fans.