UFL Had Strong Debut, Developed NFL Talent. Now It Wants to Expand

Now having reorganized itself, the United Football League is looking at expansion.

The spring football league is planning to bring in additional franchises, building on the eight current ones. The move follows a prior merger of the United States Football League and XFL that led to a debut UFL season in 2024, and more recently, the arrival of several new front-office executives in marketing, content, and communications.

There is not a specific timetable governing the process or a targeted number of franchises to add. But UFL president and CEO Russ Brandon said there will be fewer than eight additional teams, at least at the outset, and something related to expansion may be in place for the 2026 season.

“We are open for business and are very open-minded,” Brandon tells Front Office Sports. “We are taking a very holistic look at the market and everything that needs to be done to stand up a new team.”

The UFL’s debut season earlier this year saw a series of solid results, including viewership that outstripped its predecessors. Like any non-NFL pro league over the past 50 years, establishing a lasting strength in the marketplace is an uphill challenge. But Brandon said the UFL is already meeting that test.

“This is Year 2 coming up for the UFL, but Year 4, consecutively, of spring football, counting our legacy leagues,” Brandon says. “I think we’ve proven our staying power. If you look at all of our engagement, we’re clearly here for the long haul.” 

New Markets, New Brands?

As the UFL looks to expand, big pockets of the country are still open to potentially exploit, given the league’s existing base in Texas and the U.S. Southeast, including California, the Northeast, key Midwest hubs such as Chicago and Minneapolis, and the Pacific Northwest. 

The new teams could also see the arrival of entirely fresh team brands as the eight current UFL teams represent an even split between prior franchise identities from the USFL and XFL. 

The UFL, meanwhile, continues to benefit from its existing working relationship with the NFL as an incubator for that league, which involves testing a variety of innovations related to game rules and technology. Dozens of former UFL players, like Lions kicker Jake Bates, have also signed to NFL rosters. 

The 2025 UFL season will start on March 28 and conclude on June 14.