USFL Season 2: The Latest on the Northern Hubs
NewsUSFL

USFL Season 2: The Latest on the Northern Hubs

·

Going into the inaugural USFL season, Daryl Johnston had spoke on the league’s early approach to sustainability. The first season would be completely housed out of Birmingham, AL with plans to move into as many as four markets in season 2.

Late last year the USFL officially cemented on how things would playout in the South, naming Birmingham, AL and Memphis, TN as the southern hubs. Birmingham would serve as home to the Stallions and the New Orleans Breakers. Memphis would receive the Showboats, which played as the Tampa Bay Bandits last season, as well as the Houston Gamblers.

Looking to the north, things seems to be getting close to final.

Back in November newly named Breakers head coach, John DeFilippo, joined The Football Playbook with Ric Serritella and gave us our first look at how the north may playout in 2023. At the time he stated that the league was targeting Detroit to house all of the north division teams.

Since then we’ve learned that the USFL seems to be set on having at least four hubs for season two. Beyond Detroit, there’s been two other cities that have gotten some heavy attention; Philadelphia, PA and Canton, OH.

FOX saw success when they hosted their playoffs and championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, OH. So much so, we’ve been hearing rumors since then that they’d be happy utilizing the location as a hub for season 2.

With a little over three months until the USFL returns, it looks as if more hub news may be on the way soon.

Angelo of the USFL Network reports that he has heard that Canton, OH and Detroit, Mi will be the landing spot for the north.

Beyond that, he gives us some insight on which teams will play where.

As it stands now, the New Jersey Generals and Pittsburgh Maulers will play out of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, OH. That leaves the Michigan Panthers and Philadelphia Stars share a home in Detroit, MI.

At the time of publication the locations that have been floated for the Michigan hub are Ford Field and Rynearson Stadium.

Additionally, it’s not expected that either the Generals or Maulers will rebrand if Canton is the final landing spot.

In the leadup to the inaugural season, the USFL named Birmingham their lone hub on January 25th. If that’s any indication on when the news may be made official, we shouldn’t have to wait much longer.

What are your thoughts on the potential northern USFL hubs? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.

Tags
Stephan Rachuk
Owner/Editor USFL Newsroom
Originally from Detroit, I grew up a Lions fan, which has now led me on a lifetime journey to find better football. I'm now living in the greater Houston area and I am one of the few journalists covering spring football. Contact: [email protected]
Related

2 Comments

  1. Hi, As you know I am VERY supportive of the USFL and how it needs to build in a conservative approach. I am truly hopeful the Michigan hub works out. To me, this is the most important thing as we need a North hub and the Panthers are geared to be the protagonists as they have the players and Jeff Fisher will be motivated to win for his players and fans. Beyond that I would have preferred New Jersey, but I understand the logistics might be difficult this year. I still feel New Jersey will support a pro team named New Jersey and much of the fan base already know that “thick thighs save lives” and that Luis Perez will be missed. I think they also know that if Mike Riley were coaching the Jets, the Jets would still be in the running. Zach Wilson would be the best QB he can be. Whether that is good enough we would have to see. The Jets playcalling would leave a defense on their heels and not play right into it. But you CAN’T measure the success of the amount of fans that would come to see the Generals in Canton as you could not in Michigan. You can get a good an idea of who would support the Generals if the hub is in Philly. If you look at the home attendance for Generals games in Philly, you could take the average and have a strong feeling that those people will definitely buy season tickets and will be the base with 5-10 times the amount would also buy depending on marketing. I would attend a couple of Generals games in Philly. I would not attend in Canton. I liked Canton for the championship game. It was awesome as you know? Stephan. I would also not make it to Michigan. I think that Canton should still be where the championship game is and to be honest Denver and Canton could get teams next year making 10 teams for next year. For this year either all 4 should play in the Michigan Hub 2 and 2 with NJ or PA, not Canton. You may also want to book one game in Jersey and see what the attendance is. Just a thought. I think the house will rock. They called Giants Stadium the Temple of Doom during the USFL season. Forget the New York Guardians, the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. This is the New Jersey Generals. If they play smart, tough football each week, they will be supported in a big way. So know that I am a proponent for either Philly or NJ, not Canton, but I like Canton to be a 10th team, with Denver, then the San Diego Invaders and Tampa Bay ride again to be the 12th. The XFL can have Arizona. good market, but too hot when the USFL plays. Just one fan’s view.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: