Jon Miller knows the perils of starting a spring football league.
Miller, the president of NBC Sports for more than a decade, was with NBC when the network teamed with Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment during the XFL's first launch in 2001; that edition of the league was shelved after one season. He has seen other leagues crash and burn, too, but Miller is optimistic a new version of the USFL could have some staying power.
"Hopefully, the fifth time is a charm. I think the timing is right, the partnership is right, and the model is bred for success," Miller said. "We're optimistic, hopeful and excited at the same time."
The USFL kicks off this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama - all of the league's regular-season games will be played in that city at Legion Field or Protective Stadium - when the New Jersey Generals face the Birmingham Stallions at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
Fox and NBC Sports will each carry 22 games, including the Generals-Stallions opener. It is the first time since the NFL's 2007 regular-season finale between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants that a professional football game will be shown on multiple broadcast networks.
Fox Sports owns the USFL and is making a $150 million investment over three years. The only similarity between the USFL of 1983-85 and this one is the team names.
Michael Mulvihill, an executive vice president for Fox Sports, thinks the version of the XFL relaunched two years ago would have made it if it wasn't for the coronavirus outbreak. The league suspended operations in April 2020, a month after the pandemic led to a broad shutdown of sports, including the XFL after five weeks of games.
In 2019, the Alliance of American Football shut down after eight weeks, having run out of money.
"I think the viewership figures for spring football are good enough to give us a high level of confidence that the interest among fans is there," Mulvihill said. "It just becomes a matter of 'Can we develop a business model that's more effective than the leagues that have tried and haven't succeeded?' Because we're structured the way we are, we have a pretty good chance of doing just that."
There are two significant differences with the USFL before it kicks off.
First, it has waited until April to begin the season. The XFL and AAF started their seasons immediately after the Super Bowl and eventually had to go against the NCAA basketball tournament and the Masters.
The USFL's most significant competition for viewers will be the NBA and NHL playoffs through the end of May. The XFL averaged 1.5 million viewers on ABC and Fox during its final week of games; AAF ratings for games on NFL Network were similar to NFL preseason games.
The other difference is that the season will take place in two cities, with playoff games held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The eight teams will play a 10-game schedule during the regular season, with the top two in the North and South divisions advancing to the playoffs. The championship game will be a matchup of division winners.
"It's beneficial for us to get on solid financial footing, and then year two, start to kind of dial it in. Our goal is year two. Nobody's done that in a while," said Fox NFL commentator Daryl Johnston, the USFL's executive vice president of football operations.
Johnston, who won three Super Bowls as a fullback for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, also worked in the front office for the AAF and XFL. Brian Woods, the founder of the Spring League, a developmental league that operated from 2017 to 2021, is the USFL's president of football operations. Fox NFL and college football rules analyst Mike Pereira is the head of officiating.
In addition to the Generals, coached by Mike Riley, and the Stallions, coached by Skip Holtz, the other teams are the Houston Gamblers (Kevin Sumlin), Michigan Panthers (Jeff Fisher), New Orleans Breakers (Larry Fedora), Philadelphia Stars (Bart Andrus), Pittsburgh Maulers (Kirby Wilson) and Tampa Bay Bandits (Todd Haley).
Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga linebacker Dale Warren, an All-Southern Conference first-team selection as a junior in 2016, is on Pittsburgh's roster.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bandits and the Panthers are the co-favorites to win the league title at 4.5-1.
AP photo by Mark Tenally / Daryl Johnston, the executive vice president of football operations for the USFL, said making it to year two is a major goal after other spring football leagues have failed to stick around.Testing ground
There will be multiple experimental angles to the new USFL.
Fox and NBC will use drones in football game coverage for the first time. During last week's scrimmages, the drone followed a player through the hole during one play to show his running path.
Two players from each team will also have cameras in their helmets. During the scrimmages, the helmet cams captured a player blocking a punt and a defensive back intercepting a pass in the end zone.
Telecasts will also have access to all the audio feeds of coaches and 32 players on both teams wearing microphones.
"The technology will grow throughout the season because there are things that have never been tried before," said Fox Sports producer Chuck McDonald. "The biggest learning curve will be figuring out what's great."
The technology won't just extend to broadcasts. Instead of chain gangs, the USFL is relying on a chip inside the football to mark spots for down and distance. On close plays for first downs, Hawkeye technology - used in tennis to tell if a ball is in bounds - will be utilized to see if a player got the necessary yards.
Besides the extra-point kick and 2-point conversion as options after touchdowns, teams can attempt a 3-point conversion from the 10-yard line. That means an 18-point deficit theoretically remains a two-possession game.
Teams will also have the option of running a fourth-and-12 play from the 33-yard line to make a first down and retain possession instead of attempting an onside kick.
Most defensive pass interference calls will be 15 yards. It would be a spot foul if a defender intentionally tackles a receiver beyond 15 yards.