Earlier this month the news broke that the United States Football League (USFL) was in talks with representatives from the city of Birmingham, AL to host the 2022 season. Since then, we’ve made a lot of headway.
Both parties have been working aggressively to finalize a deal that would see all eight USFL teams play out of Birmingham in 2022. If a deal is struck the city could host up to four teams for the leagues second season, with all eight reporting to their respective cities by 2024.
Last we left off, the city of Birmingham and Jefferson county agreed to match each others $500,000 contribution ($1M total), leaving roughly $600,000 left to secure the league.
Chris Breece of CBS 42 reports that the BJCC have secured the financial commitments to cover the costs of hosting the USFL in 2022.
The BJCC says they have secured financial commitments in order to maintain the costs of hosting the USFL this spring. They say efforts now shift to finalizing a deal #USFL
— Chris Breece (@ChrisBreece) October 28, 2021
Next up, both parties need to finalize everything and put ink to paper.
FOX sent representatives to pitch the league to city officials last week in hopes to get everything ready for the season. Part of the deal would see Birmingham, AL get two spots for tourism during each game. Considering that the league is working towards splitting the games between FOX, FS1, NBC and USA, this could be great exposure for Birmingham.
The BJCC estimates costs to be $3,666.960 to host the league in a “bubble-like format. The breakdown includes weekly overhead ($1,019,600), weekly game day staffing ($1,436,150), weekly services provided by the City of Birmingham ($635,800), and equipment and labor for field conversions ($1,091,500).
FOX is putting up $150 million over the first three seasons of the new USFL. Due to the fact that they are hosting a bubble season for the first year will surely cut a lot of costs. Which in turn will save a lot of money for the new league. FOX seemingly has a plan in place, which is something a lot of the former spring football leagues did not (I’m looking at you AAF).
The USFL may be close to securing a venue for 2022, there only roughly 5 months until kickoff. At the moment, the league is looking to host a 10-week season starting April 15th. Following the season there would be two semi-final matchups, leading to a championship on July 3rd.
Although it’s still not final, it looks like we’re getting close. An announcement is expected to happen shortly, we’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
Do you plan on attending a USFL game in Birmingham? If you’re too far, will you tune in on TV? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
