The first touchdown in the history of the brand new United Football League (UFL), a merger of the XFL and USFL, has been scored.
Today marks the first day of the UFL, a merger of the XFL and the USFL. The first touchdown was scored by Arlington Renegades wide receiver Isaiah Winstead, who caught this gem of a pass from quarterback Luis Perez in the second quarter:
The Renegades achieved the historic first, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 27-14 to the Birmingham Stallions. The second XFL game today features the St. Louis BattleHawks and the Michigan Panthers.
Week 1 of the first-ever UFL season will conclude on Sunday, with the San Antonio Brahmas facing the DC Defenders and the Memphis Showboats taking on the Houston Roughnecks.
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The original XFL league was founded by WWE chairman Vince McMahon back in 2001. McMahon had hoped that his football league would commit with the NFL, but that obviously never stood a chance.
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The league ceased operations after just one year, having lost a reported $70 million. Then in a surprise move, the WWE chairman announced in January 2018 on live television that he was relaunching the XFL.
In 2020, the XFL attempted another relaunch. Unfortunately, the season had to shut down abruptly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners purchased the XFL from McMahon for $15 million before it could go up for bidding at an auction.
The XFL Is Giving It Another Crack
The 2001 and 2020 XFL seasons obviously didn’t endure any financial success. The league struggled to garner enough viewership in the 2023 season, but Johnson and Garcia opted to continue the league for another year.
On Dec. 31, 2023, it was announced that the XFL and USFL (United States Football League) would merge into one league called the UFL. The eight teams are split into conferences of two, the XFL and USFL conferences.
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