Birmingham-based USFL in merger talks with XFL, according to multiple news reports

According to Axios and Sportico, the United States Football League (USFL) and XFL are holding discussions about a possible merger of the two American football minor leagues. 

Birmingham-based

The USFL is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama and is home to the Birmingham Stallions, winner of the league’s first two championships. The XFL is headquartered in Arlington, Texas and is owned by Dany Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

The two leagues are different in several ways. 

For example, the XFL season runs between February to early May. The games were broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and FX.

On the other hand, the USFL begins their season in April and ends in late June. They also use a hub model with eight teams playing in 4 cities. In their inaugural season, the USFL played the entire regular season in the Magic City. 

In the first two seasons, USFL games have been shown nationally on both FOX and NBC.

Ownership of the leagues are also substantially different. FOX Corp. owns the USFL while  Dwayne Johnson and his business partners Dany Garcia and Redbird Capital run the XFL.  

What’s next

Is there going to be a merger? Who knows? But in an update to the Axios story, the XFL sent out the following statement to the publication: 

“We will not comment on rumors and speculation,” the XFL said in an emailed statement to Axios.