The USFL Is Back: New Orleans And Houston Start Season Next Month

The United States Football League will be returning to action in April of this year. Both New Orleans and Houston will have a team.

The New Orleans Breakers will be returning to action after a nearly four-decade hiatus. The Breakers were founded in 1982. The team began as the Boston Breakers and played their first season in the USFL in 1983. The team couldn't nail down a deal for a stadium so they moved the franchise down to New Orleans to play the 1984 season in the Super Dome.

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After the season in New Orleans, the USFL decided to play football in the fall instead of the spring. The owners of the Breakers knew that New Orleans couldn't support two teams playing at the same time. So they decided to move the franchise to Portland. That would be the last season of the USFL.

The USFL will begin with eight teams and have two four-team divisions. What's even more exciting is that they were able to secure the rights to many of the original teams.

North Division:

• Michigan Panthers
• New Jersey Generals
• Philadelphia Stars
• Pittsburgh Maulers

South Division:

• Birmingham Stallions
• Houston Gamblers
• New Orleans Breakers
• Tampa Bay Bandits

Before the pandemic, the XFL showed that spring football can thrive in the U.S. and the original USFL league in the 80s blazed the trail for spring football.

I'm most excited about the Houston Gamblers. The crowds were amazing at the Houston Roughneck games for the XFL and I would expect nothing less when the USFL begins play.

Watch the Breakers and Gamblers inaugural games:

• Houston Gamblers at Michigan Panthers, April 17, 1:00 pm, watch on NBC and Peacock
• Philadelphia Stars at New Orleans Breakers, April 17, 5:00 pm, watch on USA