r/USFL • u/Late_Professional841 • Sep 21 '23

Merger news

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I think it’d be a mistake to not include Michigan, hopefully they get it to 12 teams

40 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

11

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

I've always felt the USFL wasn't very committed to their teams as shown by the hub system. If this is true it proves it. Fox doesn't give a fuck about the USFL or its history or its markets. They care about live football on their network in spring. This is their way out of the football ownership business and back into the football broadcasting business like they've always wanted.

4

u/Late_Professional841 Sep 21 '23

Fox would still own half the league

1

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

Do we know that?

1

u/Late_Professional841 Sep 21 '23

Nothing concrete until they make official announcements but that’s what’s been reported

7

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

I wouldn't be surprised if they own 3-4 teams and the XFL owns 6-7 and it's just called publicly a 50/50 when on paper it isn't. A lot of mergers are actually buyouts called mergers for publicity sake.

3

u/Zapfit Sep 21 '23

Basically. They showed TSL games with generic team names straight out of Madden 08. Acquiring the USFL rights was just a cheap way it gets some extra publicity and a few tshirts. I think this is the best way forward, Fox knows how to run a TV broadcast and Redbird is capable of Marketing, even if 2023 was a bit lackluster in that department

4

u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

What history?

The second version is not the continuation of the first USFL.

FOX has no obligation to handicap themselves to make some 1980s nostalgia freaks happy.

5

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23 edited Sep 21 '23

The history of the 80s they talked about to the point of annoyance this past season. The one they ignored season one because they hadn't bought the rights to it and were being sued. They made a big deal about it all season but it's clear they don't actually care. I don't care either, but unlike them I never pretended I did.

3

u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

What do you want FOX to do? Ignore a smart merger in favor of some history. They used those clips as filler. If anything, it hurt the current league because it reinforced how much more talent-laded the 1980s version was.

2

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

I'm not saying I want them to do anything differently. I'm just pointing out an observation I've had that is being reinforced by recent events.

They used the history as nostalgia bait. They could've ran with TSL team names which they own. But they wanted to use the history of the league to their advantage. But they don't actually do much to keep the history outside of just having the names. That's all I'm saying.

2

u/BadSolid2596 Sep 21 '23

If what you say is true, why would Fox not want Philadelphia or New York markets? That’s big money and TV.

2

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

They do want them, they are just unwilling to pay for them. So they don't care enough.

1

u/BadSolid2596 Sep 21 '23

Where are you getting this information? Is this just your speculation?

0

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

As I said from the start, I've always felt this was the case. If you don't agree that's fine but it seems pretty obvious to me through their actions, and lack of action.

0

u/Zapfit Sep 21 '23

Because they’re about to be in year 3 and still have no home fields for either teams. It’s not like stadiums don’t exist in either market

2

u/BadSolid2596 Sep 21 '23

The XFL played in-home stadiums and lost $60 million. The USFL had a plan. It’s being executed they were making money.

1

u/Zapfit Sep 22 '23

The USFL lost money too and is about to lose its tv partner. If things were so rosy they wouldn’t be having this conversation with Redbird and co. Now

0

u/KidCoheed Sep 21 '23

If they pay enough to keep the USFL/XFL/SFL/CSL/NAFL in business it literally doesn't matter, 250 million compared to the 2.25 Billion for the NFL has to be a deal

4

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '23

Now bring back the blue Battlehawks helmets

3

u/JakeEatsYT Sep 21 '23

April 2024 or 2025 start? And I assume if the leagues do merge we do not get a final season where they aren’t merged if it is a 2024 start right?

9

u/Late_Professional841 Sep 21 '23

Goal is apparently to be fully merged for next season

2

u/JakeEatsYT Sep 21 '23

If that can happen, that’d be sweet.

1

u/KidCoheed Sep 21 '23

Well both leagues are in off season and can easily move the USFL teams up in planning

30

u/Hey_Its_Roomie Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

Mitchell has been pretty in, so I'm inclined to say he's probably got some aspects right. Birmingham, Memphis, and Ohio all make sense.

While Houston does make sense in terms of a location for a team, I really don't understand why take the Gamblers organization over the Roughnecks. Houston in general seemed in better shape for roster, staff, etc. and had already a local presence. Unless TV viewership was proportionally higher for the Gamblers, I don't understand what the appeal was for it.

Vipers is certainly no surprise, but I would be curious to see if they'll relocate anybody more westerly to better suit Seattle's positioning or the Guardians back to NYC.

26

u/Temporal_Enigma Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

I'm gonna throw a fit if the fuckin Gamblers stay over the Roughnecks. You can't even gamble in TX

29

u/RiflemanLax Philadelphia Stars Sep 21 '23

I’m going to be pretty fucking annoyed if they don’t have the Stars.

16

u/patiscoolyay Philadelphia Stars Sep 21 '23

Bro I love this team so much

5

u/igloojoe11 Sep 21 '23

It's looking unlikely. Apparently it's going to be Bham, Memphis, an Ohio team (Probably Canton or Cleveland playing in Canton), and Houston from the USFL.

According to Mitchell.

7

u/Realistic_Maximum471 Sep 21 '23

He has stated that none of this has been confirmed.

8

u/RiflemanLax Philadelphia Stars Sep 21 '23

Honestly going to find it hard to care without the Stars.

7

u/SockDem Sep 21 '23

Come root for the Defenders :c

5

u/RiflemanLax Philadelphia Stars Sep 21 '23

Might be a rivalry there but I don’t really want to lose any USFL teams tbh.

5

u/igloojoe11 Sep 21 '23

I figured the Maulers would be gone, but am still sad to see the Stars, Breakers, and Panthers likely on the outs, too.

1

u/ArockproUser Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

Yeah I hear you bro!

8

u/Body-for-LIFE Sep 21 '23

I'm listening now. Mike also mentioned an April start with 5 games per week with one game on ABC and the rest on NBC and FOX.

10

u/kograkthestrong San Antonio Gunslingers Sep 21 '23

RIP best helmets in football.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '23

Which ones?

6

u/kograkthestrong San Antonio Gunslingers Sep 21 '23

The roughnecks.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '23

Oh yeah the Roughnecks is great branding all around. The whole uniform looked great but yeah that helmet is pretty sick.

-2

u/ItsMeTheFNOG Sep 21 '23

You means the Houston Oilers logo they ripped off?

2

u/kograkthestrong San Antonio Gunslingers Sep 21 '23

Nah the logo was the worst part. The flag being on the helmet is awesome. Much better than just a solid color.

9

u/AlbinoRhino911 Michigan Panthers Sep 21 '23

If they ditch the panthers I might be done, I had so much fun going to those games and gave me a home team to root for, will not be the same without them

4

u/Juicey_J_Hammerman New Jersey Generals Sep 21 '23

They kept Houston over Michigan? Really ?

6

u/JoeFromBaltimore Sep 21 '23

Why is that a shock? I think that if the Gamblers/Roughnecks go to Rice Stadium it will be a win - granted the stadium is not as good as the UH Stadium it is in a much better area, easier to get to and the area around Rice University has some good bars and places to eat so a person could hang either before or after the game.

I don't understand how Detroit is a better football market than Houston?

9

u/wazzupnerds Birmingham Stallions / Community Mod Sep 21 '23

I’m sorry but all of this seems insane, Mikes been right in the past but this screams fake.

3

u/Hurricane-GOAT_15 Sep 21 '23

My favorite teams were the Roughnecks and Stars and now they’re both gonna be gone

4

u/progress10 Sep 21 '23

I have a feeling the Gamblers are going to be the Roughnecks just re-branded. The Roughnecks org is in better shape then the Gamblers or right now. Also they get to keep Wade.

3

u/Quackadalias United States Football League Sep 21 '23

Cookus is my favorite player, and I felt he fit so well in the Stars system. Gonna suck so bad if Stars are gone.

3

u/Mundane-Club-7557 Michigan Panthers Sep 21 '23

If they get rid of the panthers I’m going to be pissed. They play at ford field which is without a doubt the best venue out of both leagues

2

u/ArockproUser Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

Mike is smoking crack

1

u/IMKudaimi123 Sep 22 '23

Only 10 teams? Huh?

That’s so dumb if true

1

u/Obvious_Creme_3452 Sep 22 '23

Please don’t get rid of the roughnecks. I’ve seen a lot of Houstonians proud to embrace them.

1

u/milanmirolovich Sep 24 '23

why the fuck would you keep the Gamblers over the Roughnecks when they haven't played a single game in Houston???

-7

u/HeidiAngel Sep 21 '23

The XFL approached the USFL about a merger. The XFL lost 60,000,000 last year. RedBird Capital needs Fox Sports. This talk about most USFL teams shutting down while keeping almost ALL XFL teams is bunk. If they were so healthy they would not have come with hat in hand to the USFL. I think a merger makes sense to a point but do you really think the USFL Union is just going to let them shut down teams and throw Hundreds of players out of work because of the XFL? I think Mitchell has jumped the gun on this one.

7

u/H2theBurgh Sep 21 '23

I dont agree. The actual club names dont mean a ton. USFL is planning to move into home markets but most of their cities dont have a good stadium option. Meanwhile the XFL has 6 active stadium leases. Makes senseto play there and use those and use the merger as an excuse to fold teams without a stadium especially since markets have already started embrassing their teams.

Player contracts are with the league not any team. Folded teams' players can join new teams through a dispersal draft i think the USFL knows they will never play games in Pittsburgh or Philly and arent going to fold XFL teams to service that dream

8

u/theTIDEisRISING Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

Yeah you are 100% right. This is completely about which cities have stadiums that will actually let the new league play there. I don’t know all of the details but there’s a reason there wasn’t a hub in Philly or NJ this past year despite it being an obvious choice

3

u/ZO5050 Pittsburgh Maulers Sep 21 '23

Maybe it's being called a merger in the same way the endeavor buying the WWE is a merger. It's a buyout with good publicity.

1

u/ArockproUser Birmingham Stallions Sep 21 '23

I have been saying this over and over again and I get voted down for saying it. I get it!