Plot Synopsis

The United States Football League (USFL) is a new, independent football league that is not affiliated with the defunct 1980s league or its owners. The inaugural USFL season will kick off April 16, 2022 with eight teams split into two divisions: the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers, and Tampa Bay Bandits in the South Division; and the Michigan Panthers, Pittsburgh Maulers, New Jersey Generals, and Philadelphia Stars in the North Division. Each team will play a 10-game schedule, followed by semifinals on June 25 between the top two teams in each division and a championship game on July 3 between division winners. The USFL completed its inaugural Player Draft with a supplemental round on March 10. Players reported to training camps on March 22. Each USFL team carries a 38-man active roster plus a seven-man practice squad, and players receives base compensation in addition to being eligible for victory bonuses.

FOX Sports and NBC Sports combine to present all 43 games live for the inaugural season of the USFL. There will be 18 primetime broadcasts, including the USFL Championship Game on Sunday, July 3 airing on FOX from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. For the 2022 USFL season, FOX Sports will carry 22 games split between FOX (14) and FS1 (8), and NBC Sports will present 22 games on NBC (9), USA Network (9), and Peacock (4), which will also stream all games broadcast on NBC.

The New Jersey Generals take on the Birmingham Stallions in the first game of the new USFL on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT on NBC and FOX. It is the first scheduled sports competition to air at the same time on two competitive networks since Super Bowl I broadcasted on NBC and CBS, January 15, 1967. The next day on Sunday, April 17, games feature the Houston Gamblers playing the Michigan Panthers, the Philadelphia Stars facing the New Orleans Breakers, and the Tampa Bay Bandits taking on the Pittsburgh Maulers.