2026 UFL season

In July 2025, the UFL sold a large minority stake to their own self over to the Impact Capital, a private equity fund owned by multibillionaire sports drink founder Mike Repole, who assumed direction of the league's business operations.^[1][2]

Even before Repole's management had been made public, news broke that the entire USFL Conference was being potentially shopped for relocation to potential expansion markets,^[3] due to a number of factors: Birmingham and Houston due to declining and underperforming attendance; Memphis due to even worse attendance and the death of team sponsor Fred Smith;^[4] and Michigan due to exorbitant stadium costs at Ford Field and an unwillingness to use the only other viable stadium in the Detroit market, Rynearson Stadium (though later reports suggested that the Panthers' future could be tied to AlumniFi Field, a planned 15,000-seat stadium scheduled to open in southwest Detroit in 2027 as the new home of soccer's Detroit City FC).^[5][6]

Repole first addressed the Birmingham Stallions by challenging the Stallions fan base to purchase 5,000 season ticket deposits in order to keep the team in Alabama;^[7] though the drive fell short of that number, Repole was impressed by the speed in which the city had invested in 2,200 season tickets and a corporate suite that had not yet even been put up for sale and confirmed the Stallions were safe from relocation for 2026, but he hoped the city would purchase 15,000 to 20,000 tickets per game for the upcoming season to continue beyond that.^[8] Repole's overall target for attendance across the league is between 10,000 and 15,000 fans per game, compensating by using smaller, more intimate stadiums that would avoid the empty seats and lack of ambiance that Repole felt made the games feel like "a COVID game."^[2]

Among potential relocation targets, Columbus, Ohio had been named as a potential new 2026 market for the UFL as early as April 2025.^[9][10] The UFL confirmed the addition of a Columbus UFL team shortly after Repole's arrival.^[1] Other possible candidates for relocation for the 2026 season were identified in the offseason including Louisville, Kentucky at Lynn Family Stadium. Boise, Idaho and Lexington, Kentucky were identified in early reporting but they either denied having heard from the league or stated they could not host games in 2026.^[11] Boise had reached a "verbal agreement" with the previous UFL management for a team to play at Albertsons Stadium, one that was suddenly abandoned upon Repole's arrival.^[12]

Though the UFL had initially planned to expand to 10 teams for 2026,^[13] Repole paused those plans and chose to keep the league at eight teams for 2026, with intent to begin the oft-delayed expansion by 2028^[1] and have a 16-team league by 2035.^[2] The first of the two new teams for 2028 was revealed during the 2026 season, an Oklahoma City team that will play at MAPS 4 Stadium once it is complete.^[14]

On October 7 the UFL announced three new franchises, the Columbus Aviators playing at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio; The Louisville Kings playing at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky; and the Orlando Storm playing at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The league also announced that the Arlington Renegades would become the Dallas Renegades and play at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas; and that the Houston Roughnecks would become the Houston Gamblers and move to Shell Energy Stadium. It was also announced that new head coaches, uniforms and the 2026 schedule would be announced at a later date.^[15]

Players under contract to the Michigan Panthers, Memphis Showboats and San Antonio Brahmas were all transferred over to the Columbus Aviators, Louisville Kings and Orlando Storm, respectively, for the purposes of protecting players in the subsequent dispersal draft. However, the brand new teams are considered separate and will not inherit the history or records of the folded franchises.^[16][17]

In November 2025, Repole revealed in an interview that each team will carry 60-man rosters to training camp (compared to 75 in the 2024 season and 64 in the 2025 season), with regular season rosters set at 45 (down from 50 in the 2025 season) without specifying how many will be on the game day roster and if the teams will carry practice squads.^[22] This would violate the terms of the CBA as negotiated in 2025.^[23] It was later announced that teams would be able to carry a offseason roster of a 60 (minimum) to 64 (maximum) players.

After initially implying that he would be joining the Tennessee State Tigers staff and leaving his position as interim head coach, Shannon Harris agreed to stay on as the DC Defenders' head coach on a permanent basis. He will work both jobs for their upcoming seasons.^[39] He will be the only head coach returning with the same team he had coached in 2025.

Of the three coaches of teams who were relocated, Michigan's Mike Nolan was formally terminated November 15;^[40] San Antonio's Wade Phillips had reached the end of his contract^[41] (he had not taken any action on an offer to return to the UFL before Repole's arrival);^[42] and Memphis's Jim Turner accepted a position as offensive line coach with Rutgers on December 22.^[43] Payton Pardee, who had served as the interim coach of San Antonio during Phillips's illness in 2025, joined UTEP as its tight ends coach in January 2026.^[44]

For the 2026 season the UFL signed all coaches to a year long contract, instead of the seasonal contracts they used in previous years.

On February 24, 2026, the UFL announced a series of rule changes for 2026 meant to "turbocharge offenses" and increase player safety. The changes include the following:^[57][58]

Standard play

• A coin toss will be used before the start of the game and, if necessary, overtime, with the visiting team making the call and the winner making the choice to receive, kick off, defend goal, or defer to the second half. The UFL (and before it the XFL) had previously given all privileges of what a coin toss winner would receive to the home team as a home-field advantage, replacing the original XFL's ill-fated "opening scramble."
• Only one foot will be required to land in-bounds for a forward pass to be deemed complete. (This restores the XFL standard, which Daryl Johnston had vigorously opposed before his dismissal.)
• The tush push, defined by the UFL as "a play in which, after the quarterback takes the snap, he immediately drives forward as the offensive line surges and is assisted by additional players behind him who physically push him forward into the surging offensive line", is prohibited.
• The UFL will return to the standard used in all other levels of the game that limits the distance of a penalty to up to half the distance to the goal.

Kickoffs

• A minor adjustment to the "dynamic kickoff" will move each team's line five yards toward the kicker. This means that the kicking team's lineup will move from the receiving team's 40-yard line to the 45 (with the kicker at their own 30), while the receiving team must have at least 9 players lined up between their 35- and 40-yard lines (previously their 30- and 35-yard lines).
• If a ball is kicked into the end zone and results in a touchback, the ball will be placed at the receiving team's 40-yard line as consequence. (The ball had previously been placed at the 35-yard line.)
• If a kick lands within the "receiving zone" (between the receiving team's goal line and 20-yard line) but travels into the end zone without a return, the ball will be placed at the receiving team's 20-yard line.

Punts

• Teams on offense will be forbidden from punting if they cross midfield except after a two-minute warning; they will only be permitted to punt if the scrimmage line is at or on their side of the 50-yard line.
• The punt prohibition will stand even if the offense loses ground after crossing midfield, meaning the team cannot take intentional penalties, sacks, or kneels to become eligible to punt, and must attempt to achieve the first down or attempt a four-point field goal by placekick or drop kick (see below).

Scoring

• Midfield will now serve as a "four-point line" for field goal attempts, with any field goal of 60 or more yards earning four points instead of three. Made directly at Repole's behest, this rule is a revival and modification of one used by NFL Europe, which had awarded four points to field goals of 50 or more yards.
• After a touchdown, offenses will have the option to kick an extra point, with the 33-yard distance for such kick attempts matching the NFL standard. Teams will also have an option to run a play from the 2-yard line for a 2-point conversion, or run a play from the 8-yard line for 3 points. The new 1- and 2-point options match the equivalents used in the NFL. Previously, the UFL did not permit kicks for 1 point, and teams were required to run or pass from the 2-, 5-, or 10-yard lines for 1, 2, or 3 points respectively. This reverts to the USFL rule; the previous UFL rule had been inherited from the XFL.

Overtime

• Overtime will retain its best-of-three-session "shootout" format, with teams alternating scrimmage plays from the 5-yard line and earning 2 points for each scoring play; sudden-death sessions will also be played to determine a winner if the teams remain tied after three sessions.
• In a change announced before Week 4, a rule that awarded an automatic two points to the offense when the defense commits two nonconsecutive live-ball penalties in overtime was repealed. The rarely-employed rule, which was originally intended to discourage defenses from intentionally preventing OT scores (and also help ensure a timely end to the game), was invoked during the Week 3 Orlando/Louisville matchup, after the Kings committed a holding penalty on the Storm's fourth OT attempt; that penalty, when combined with a Louisville pass interference foul in the third OT session, gave Orlando two points and the win.^[59][60] Beginning in Week 4, a graduated scale will determine placement of the ball after each defensive live-ball foul: The first penalty, as before, will give the offense a retry from the 1-yard line, but any subsequent live-ball foul by the same defense will see the offense attempt the retry from halfway closer to the goal line (i.e. the half-yard line after the second foul, nine-inch line after the third, 4.5-inch line after the fourth, and so on if necessary). The change, while continuing to disincentivize defensive OT penalties, ensures that the OT cannot end on a penalty.^[61][62] (The unfair act rule that awards a score for consecutive fouls in an attempt to prevent a score remains on the books.)

All games stream on ESPN+ or Fox Sports app unless otherwise noted.

Announced attendance figures for each home game. In the weekly columns, dashes (—) indicate away games, while bold font indicates the highest attendance of the week.

Writing for the Courier-Journal, C. L. Brown gave the revamped league a positive review, remarking that "there's real talent here" and that there was "nothing gimmicky about" the overall product despite the rule changes; he also noted that the brisk weather gave the game an authentic autumn-like feel.^[116]