It’s been nearly a month since the merger between the XFL and USFL was first approved and thus far, there haven’t been many details revealed regarding the new league.
That, however, changed on Thursday as one player in limbo revealed previously unannounced plans, including the league’s surviving teams and draft format.
After the USFL announced on Tuesday which four of its teams — Michigan, Houston, Memphis and Birmingham — would be included in the eight-team league, former XFL standout Jahcour Pearson took to X (formerly Twitter) to inquire about the XFL side of the equation. Fellow former XFL star Jeff Badet responded (and then some) by sharing what appeared to be an internal email revealing which four XFL teams — Arlington, D.C., San Antonio and St. Louis — will be moving forward, as well as the league’s draft plans for players.
https://twitter.com/JeffBadet__/status/1737881018424586621
It appears Badet was trying to make a point with his post, as he didn’t only reply to Pearson publicly, but also reposted it while tagging multiple XFL reporters and news accounts. It’s hard to imagine the new league — which has been rumored to be called the United Football League (UFL) — would want a player to announce these details before it does, but considering Badet was a part of the now nonexistent Vegas Vipers, he also doesn’t exactly have anyone to answer to at this time.
As for the details themselves, players who were part of now-dissolved teams in both leagues will be in a mini-dispersal draft on Dec. 27, in which they will only be eligible to be selected by one of the four teams in their former league. Following the mini-dispersal draft, a super-dispersal draft will be held on Jan. 15, with those players eligible to be selected by teams from either league.
Other details include that Arlington will serve as the practice hub for the league, but teams will play home games in their respective markets. Additionally, the league will consist of two conferences — the XFL and the USFL — with a regular-season schedule consisting of 10 games and no bye weeks.
The information shared by Badet also included player pay, which will consist of weekly $400 stipends for training camp, inactive players receiving $2,500 per game and active players receiving $5,350 per game. According to the memo, training camp is scheduled to begin on Feb. 23, with the start of the regular season having been previously announced for March 30.
