Half of the UFL’s eight franchises are headed to new cities, Pro Football Newsroom reported on Tuesday.
The four teams that comprised the USFL Conference — the Birmingham Stallions, Michigan Panthers, Houston Roughnecks and Memphis Showboats — are relocating, per the report.
According to Pro Football Newsroom, the new sites will be Boise, Idaho; Louisville/Lexington, Ky.; Columbus, Ohio; and a location in Florida, likely Orlando.
The UFL’s remaining four teams comprise the XFL Conference: the St. Louis Battlehawks, DC Defenders, Arlington Renegades and San Antonio Brahmas.
Birmingham would lose a team that is a three-time champion. The Stallions won the only two titles in the revived USFL in 2022 and 2023 before the league merged with the XFL to form the UFL. Birmingham then captured the 2024 UFL championship.
Michigan reached the UFL title game this year, losing 58-34 to DC. Per Pro Football Newsroom, the Panthers saw an increase in attendance in 2025, but it wasn’t enough considering the cost of playing at the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field.
Louisville had two teams compete in the early years of the NFL: the Brecks (1921-23) and the Colonels (1926). The city also was host to an afl2 (second-tier) arena football team from 2001-08.
The NFL also had an early team in Ohio’s capital city, the Columbus Panhandles (1920-26).
Orlando had an XFL team in 2023, but the Guardians did not survive the XFL/USFL merger.
–Field Level Media
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