As the Arlington Renegades defend their pro football title this spring, they’ll have a new slate of opponents.
The XFL, whose rebirth resulted in a championship for Arlington’s newest pro sports team when the Renegades defeated Washington in the title game last May, has merged with the USFL, another professional football league, to form the United Football League.
The new league is scheduled to launch its 10-game regular season in late March with eight teams divided into two conferences. Teams will represent Arlington, Washington, D.C., San Antonio and St. Louis in the XFL Conference. The USFL Conference will feature Birmingham (Alabama), Houston, Memphis and Michigan. Training camp will take place in Arlington beginning in late February.
Providing the league a home in North Texas is a benefit – and testament – to Arlington, said Mayor Jim Ross.
“It means that what we put in place actually worked. The merged XFL-USFL league had the option of staying in Arlington, going to Birmingham or going someplace else. Because of what we set up in Arlington and how that worked for the XFL, they have all opted to stay just where they are,” said Ross. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – and it is definitely not broke. There was a lot of excitement that was created and nurtured with the XFL last year and that excitement is going to grow even more with the merger.”
The Renegades, who play in the renovated Choctaw Stadium, the former home of the Texas Rangers, had a 4-6 record in the regular season but advanced through the playoffs by defeating Houston to meet Washington, which led the league with a 9-1 regular-season record.
Brent DeRaad, the president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, echoed the mayor’s thoughts, underscoring the potential the city holds with the new league.
“It’s exciting to have professional spring football return to Arlington. The Renegades brought a championship to Arlington in the first year of the rebooted XFL. We feel the momentum of that success will carry through to the new UFL in 2024,” said DeRaad. “We expect the Renegades’ attendance to grow and believe national television ratings will be stronger with just one professional spring football league this year.”
Arlington is coached by Bob Stoops, the former University of Oklahoma University who led the Sooners to the 2000 national title and ten Big 12 championships in 18 seasons in Norman.
Luis Perez, who played at Texas A&M-Commerce, passed for three touchdowns in the 35-26 championship game victory for the Renegades, finding targets in players from schools such as Auburn, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Stoops is not the only recognizable name among the league’s coaches. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips helms the San Antonio Brahmas; Michigan head coach Mike Nolan formerly led the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers; and Skip Holtz, son of legendary college coach and commentator Lou Holtz, and a longtime collegiate head coach himself, leads the Birmingham Stallions.
Former Dallas Cowboys star Daryl “Moose” Johnston, who served as the president of football operations for the USFL, will lead football operations in the new league.
“With Arlington serving as the hub for the eight-team United Football League, we anticipate teams practicing at area high schools and at Choctaw Stadium,” DeRaad said. “Team executives, coaches and players will spend locally and we believe Arlington residents and businesses will strongly support their Renegades in 2024 and beyond.”
The XFL originally began play in 2001 for a single season and went dormant until the spring of 2020, when it was refashioned with eight teams. That season was cut short because of the pandemic, leading to bankruptcy. Celebrity Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and a group of investors stepped in to buy the league from pro wrestling impresario Vince McMahon, and reignited interest.
“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation,” Johnson said in a league announcement. “As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans – a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true.”
Photo credit goes to theufl.com
