The UFL is once again set to field eight teams in its second season as a unified spring football league following the 2024 USFL and XFL merger.
The UFL’s 2025 format mimics that of most recent spring-league startups. The USFL fielded eight teams in each of its two seasons as a separate entity, while the XFL did the same during its 2020 and 2023 campaigns.
That said, while the league’s basic structure for 2025 remains status quo, the UFL is beginning to explore potential expansion as it seeks to establish staying power in the spring.
‘Expansion is definitely something that we have talked quite a bit about this year,’ UFL executive vice president Daryl Johnston told USA TODAY in a phone interview.
Why UFL is considering expansion
Johnston noted expansion discussions show signs of ‘confidence’ in the league’s growth and trajectory. It’s an acknowledgment that UFL has put together a good product that is attracting quality personnel to its ranks.
There has been a ‘big uptick’ in new players expressing an interest in the league, according to Johnston. That has contributed to improving overall roster quality, as Michigan Panthers head coach Mike Nolan detailed.
‘Each year, the talent has really gotten considerably better,’ Nolan told USA TODAY. ‘Last year, when they merged the two leagues – naturally when you take 800 players and narrow it down to the best 400, that’s quite an improvement. That’s what happened last year when they merged the USFL and the XFL.’
Why is there an increased interest in joining the UFL? Nolan believes it’s all about players and agents ‘seeing the benefits of playing in the spring.’
‘I was in the NFL for a long time, and players don’t typically improve their skills by going to a weight room and getting bigger and stronger,’ Nolan said. ‘They just get bigger and stronger, but they don’t play the game any better.
‘When you get into the spring league, it’s an opportunity for you to improve your ability to play football.’
Johnson has seen a similar effect manifest in the UFL’s coaching searches. They have had no shortage of options to replace departing coaches and have often landed proven, high-level candidates to lead the league’s teams.
His top example? The Memphis Showboats were tasked with replacing head coach John DeFilippo ahead of the 2025 season. They landed Ken Whisenhunt, a coach with eight seasons of NFL head coaching experience who led the Arizona Cardinals to an appearance in Super Bowl 43.
‘I think that’s a real feather in our cap,’ Johnston said. ‘When we have a position that needs to be filled, the quality of the candidate that’s coming forward.’
‘And I think we’ve seen that exact same thing with some of the potential cities that are vying for expansion,’ he added. ‘It’s very flattering to see that list.’
UFL expansion potential
Currently, the UFL is in the exploratory phase of potential expansion, as Johnston detailed.
‘We’re moving towards starting to look at potential markets that are out there for us that would be a good fit,’ he explained. ‘I think that’s one of the things that is the most important. Are you in the right markets? I think that’ll be our key driver.’
Particularly, Johnston noted that proximity to the league’s Arlington hub would not be a major consideration when expansion opportunities arise. He said that is trying to creatively leverage its Texas ties – three of the eight teams are located in the Lone Star State – but that all options for new teams will be evaluated on a market-by-market basis.
‘There’s going to be a number of different things that we’ll be looking at,’ Johnston explained. ‘Regionality is not going to be one of those things. It’ll be more specific; things that we feel are the drivers to have a successful home market, and those will be the ones that we’ll focus on the most.’
Johnston did not elaborate on which markets were drawing consideration for UFL expansion at this time, nor did he provide an update on an expansion timeline.
However, there appears to be an interest in and an appetite for adding teams to the UFL in future seasons.
‘We’ve been very pleasantly surprised by not just the number of markets but kind of the variance we have there,’ Johnston said. ‘There’s a number of different markets that have expressed an interest when we are ready to do the expansion, and that’s another way where we’ve gotten some confidence.’