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The United Football League’s third season will look very different from its first two.
Three teams are moving to different cities and playing in soccer stadiums as part of a strategy to play in smaller, more intimate venues.
Last week, the league said it was moving teams away from Memphis, San Antonio, and Detroit. Those three teams will now be the Orlando Storm, Louisville Kings, and Columbus Aviators, the league told Front Office Sports on Tuesday.
Additionally, the Houston Roughnecks are changing their name to the Gamblers, and the Arlington Renegades will now be known as the Dallas Renegades. The Houston Gamblers were a team in the old USFL, and Orlando is the only new city to previously have a team. The Orlando Renegades played one season in the previous iteration of the USFL in 1985.
The moves are part of new UFL co-owner Mike Repole’s vision for the league.
“It came down to two things: the market and the stadium,” Repole told Front Office Sports. “I really believe that’s part of the formula. The markets that we’re going into have one or two pro teams or no pro teams. And then the stadium. I would say this when you put 12–15,000 in a stadium that fits 60–70,000 it’s empty. When you put 12,000–15,000 in a stadium that seats 25,000, it looks packed.”
The new-look UFL parted ways with the Michigan Panthers despite the fact that it was the only UFL team to see its attendance increase year-over-year in its first two seasons. Repole called the decision to leave Detroit “very hard” but added continuing to play at Ford Field “wasn’t an option” and the city has no soccer stadium to move the team to.
“The markets were right, but the stadiums weren’t,” Repole told FOS. “It wasn’t a good look for the league and the stadium.”
Repole bought a significant stake in the league last year, joining an ownership table that includes Fox, ESPN, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, RedBird Capital Partners, and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.
In July, it was reported the league would move four teams to new cities, but ultimately settled on three. The St. Louis Battlehawks, D.C. Defenders, and Birmingham Stallions are the three teams returning with their same name and stadium in 2026.
The Columbus and Orlando teams will play in those cities’ MLS stadiums, while the Louisville team will play at Lynn Family Stadium, which houses the NWSL’s Racing Louisville FC and USL’s Louisville City FC.
The Houston and Dallas teams are also moving to the MLS stadiums in their cities after previously playing in Space City Financial Stadium at the University of Houston and Choctaw Stadium, respectively.
In addition to its new teams, the UFL is eliminating its divisions and will have its top four teams—out of eight—make the playoffs.
The UFL is the latest attempt to establish a spring football league after the short-lived Alliance of American Football folded in 2019. After a strong inaugural season in 2024, the league’s second season dealt with labor drama between the players and the league and a 20% drop in ratings.
Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the primary owner of Front Office Sports.
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