The San Antonio Brahmas will live to play another season of football.
The short-term prospects for the XFL’s Brahmas were solidified Monday in a press release from league officials, which confirmed that XFL and United States Football League (USFL) would merge and form the United Football League, or UFL.
Word of the Brahmas' survival comes after months of rumors and speculation about a potential merger between the two spring leagues.
“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation,” actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said in a statement. Johnson, who co-founded the XFL, will serve as a managing partner of the combined league.
“As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans — a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true," Johnson added.
The Brahmas will be led by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, who will replace outgoing coach Hines Ward.
San Antonio joins the Arlington Renegades, the D.C. Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks as the only teams of the XFL's original eight to survive the merger. Of the eight teams previously competing in the USFL, only the Birmingham Stallions, the Memphis Showboats and the Michigan Panthers made the cut.
Houston, a market that both the XFL and USFL shared, also will have a team in the new league.
Although the merger will ensure the survival of spring football in the near term, it remains to be seen whether semi-pro football will ever become a viable business model.
The Brahmas had the second-highest regular-season attendance average in the XFL. Even so, that only came out to a little less than 15,000 attendees per game in a league that lost $60 million in last year's inaugural season.
Season Ticket deposits for the 2024 season are on sale now. The UFL’s 10-game regular season will kick off Saturday, March 20.
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The short-term prospects for the XFL’s Brahmas were solidified Monday in a press release from league officials, which confirmed that XFL and United States Football League (USFL) would merge and form the United Football League, or UFL.
Word of the Brahmas' survival comes after months of rumors and speculation about a potential merger between the two spring leagues.
“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation,” actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said in a statement. Johnson, who co-founded the XFL, will serve as a managing partner of the combined league.
“As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans — a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true," Johnson added.
The Brahmas will be led by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, who will replace outgoing coach Hines Ward.
San Antonio joins the Arlington Renegades, the D.C. Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks as the only teams of the XFL's original eight to survive the merger. Of the eight teams previously competing in the USFL, only the Birmingham Stallions, the Memphis Showboats and the Michigan Panthers made the cut.
Houston, a market that both the XFL and USFL shared, also will have a team in the new league.
Although the merger will ensure the survival of spring football in the near term, it remains to be seen whether semi-pro football will ever become a viable business model.
The Brahmas had the second-highest regular-season attendance average in the XFL. Even so, that only came out to a little less than 15,000 attendees per game in a league that lost $60 million in last year's inaugural season.
Season Ticket deposits for the 2024 season are on sale now. The UFL’s 10-game regular season will kick off Saturday, March 20.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
