Leagues

UFL, Union Sign New CBA, Which Runs Through 2026 Season

The two sides have been in talks since late 2024 over a new deal that included year-round healthcare.

By Alex Schiffer

May 05, 2025 | 02:26 pm

Mar 30, 2025; Washington, D.C., USA; Birmingham Stallions quarterback Alex McGough (10) runs the ball as DC Defenders cornerback Kiondre Thomas (24) defends in the second half at Audi Field.

Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

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The UFL’s labor drama is finally over, five weeks into its second season.

The league and its union signed a new collective bargaining agreement on Monday, ending months of negotiations that included a preseason quarterback holdout and talks of a strike at various points. The agreement will run through the 2026 season.

“We have reached a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the UFPA,” UFL president Russ Brandon said in a release. “We look forward to continuing to work with our players to grow professional spring football at the UFL.”

The new CBA includes a $7,005 raise on minimum salaries—or around 12%—bringing them to just over $62,000 and is retroactive to the start of training camp, which opened in early March. The raise includes a $400 housing stipend. The salary increase is for all players who participate in the league’s 10 regular-season games and makes all players eligible for year-round health care. The minimum salary will increase to $64,000 for the start of the 2026 season.

The two sides originally came to an agreement in mid-April, but it needed approval from the UFL’s board, which consists of Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks (the network owns half the league) and fellow co-owners Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and his ex-wife, Dany Garcia.

Other benefits negotiated into the new CBA include expanded roster sizes and player bonuses for year-end awards.

The league is entering its second season after the USFL and XFL merged. The UFL is the latest attempt to establish a spring football league after the short-lived Alliance of American Football folded in 2019.

The UFL drew promising ratings in its inaugural season with an average of 816,000 viewers tuning in to the league’s 40 regular-season games with six games reaching over 1 million. But ratings are down 33% three weeks into this current season.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the majority owner of Front Office Sports.