26-05-2025
Is UFL plotting expansion to Oakland, Philly, New Jersey, and/or Tampa?
As the UFL sputters through a second season that hasn't matched the first year of the XFL-USFL merger, there's reason to think the league is thinking about the possibility of expanding.
A recent item from indicates that USFL Enterprises LLC (which apparently owns the USFL half of the league) filed earlier this month trademark applications relating to the names of four original USFL teams: the Oakland Invaders, the Philadelphia Stars, the New Jersey Generals, and the Tampa Bay Bandits.
We've confirmed the existence of the filings. All four were made on May 6, 2025.
The Stars and Generals were part of the pre-merger USFL. They folded when the UFL emerged. The Bandits spent one season as part of the reconstituted USFL; they became the Memphis Showboats in 2023.
Oakland would be a very intriguing option. Given the success of the St. Louis Battlehawks, it makes plenty of sense to put UFL teams in markets the NFL has abandoned.
The article also mentions that former Buccaneers quarterback and current Raiders minority owner Tom Brady is supposedly interested in buying a UFL team. Currently, however, the league is one integrated business. Franchises have not been sold to individuals or groups.
Maybe that will happen. It would seem more plausible if the UFL weren't slumping in comparison to 2024.
Still, by moving teams to the right markets, it could work. The UFL is thriving in St. Louis. Oakland could do well, too. And San Diego. And there are plenty of non-NFL markets that might take to a pro football team.
The biggest challenge remains the simple fact that spring football typically struggles. Even in an age of widespread legalized gambling, it's hard to get people fully invested in football when it's not football season.
