USFL explores Metro Detroit hub for 2023; Eastern Michigan has been contacted

The United States Football League, in preparing for its second season of spring ball, is exploring making Metro Detroit one of its three or four hubs, rather than playing all of the games in a single location like it did in its inaugural season of 2022.

The USFL is actively exploring locations in Metro Detroit, and has reached out to Eastern Michigan University, a school official confirmed to The Detroit News on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks remain active.

Detroit's Ford Field, home of the Lions, also is on the USFL's radar, according to another source.

The USFL, with eight teams, including a reboot of the old, popular Michigan Panthers, played all of its regular-season games in 2022 at Protective Stadium and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The playoff games, including the championship game, were played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

That single hub for Year 1 eased the financial stress of a startup, eliminating the need for costly travel and hotels, as USFL officials looked to be a spring-ball outlier in terms of long-term survival.

The plan for a second year then, league officials had previously told The News, was to move each team into its own market. While that plan has been altered to multiple hubs for 2023, the goal still is to have each team in its own market eventually, just not next season. Two hubs already are set for the second season, including Birmingham and Memphis, Tennessee, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

The USFL continues to explore options for at least one more hub, and possibly two. Metro Detroit and Philadelphia are cities being discussed.

If there are two more hubs, each of the four hubs would house two teams. If there is one more hub, whether it's Detroit or Philadelphia, that hub would likely host three or four of the league's eight teams, based on team geography. The USFL has declined to comment on future sites.

The second season of the USFL kicks off Sunday, April 16, about two weeks before Eastern Michigan's semester ends, with the championship game set for early summer. Training camp starts in March.

In exploring possible locations in Metro Detroit, the USFL almost certainly prioritized stadiums with turf fields because of the significant wear and tear of housing multiple teams; stadiums with built-in broadcast infrastructure, as league partner Fox Sports broadcasts the games; and adequate locker-room facilities. The USFL has not reached out about using Wayne State's Tom Adams Field in Detroit, Detroit City FC's Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, or Lawrence Tech's Blue Devils Stadium in Southfield, various officials told The News.

The USFL, a reboot of the old 1980s league, despite no affiliation to its predecessor, features eight teams: the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers. The Memphis Showboats are a new franchise for 2023, seemingly replacing the Tampa Bay Bandits.

The league averaged more than 715,000 TV viewers for its games in 2022, with more than 1.5 million watching the championship game. The first game of 2022 drew 17,500 fans, with regular-season ticket sales dropping drastically after the first weekend. The USFL reported an attendance of about 20,000 for its championship game.

Eastern Michigan's Rynearson Stadium has a capacity of 30,200; the school recently spent millions upgrading its football training and locker-room facilities. The football stadium, nicknamed "The Factory," has gray turf. It was home to the WFL's Detroit Wheels in 1974.

Ford Field has a capacity of 65,000, but it's unclear if ties to the NFL, technically a competitor of the XFL, could prove to be a complication toward a deal. That said, the old Michigan Panthers did play at the Pontiac Silverdome, also home to the Lions, in their 1980s run.

Rynearson Stadium almost assuredly would be cheaper for the USFL than using Ford Field.

Spring professional football has been tried several times over the years, with little financial success. The XFL has failed twice, but under new ownership — The Rock replaces Vince McMahon — is trying again in 2023, with its season starting in February. The XFL has eight teams, all based in their home cities.

USFL teams, which are all owned by the league, carry 40-man rosters, plus 10-man practice squads, mostly players who were passed over in NFL drafts, or who have played in the NFL and are trying for career revivals.

“Completing a remarkably successful inaugural season and preparing for a second season shows the USFL is a stable and professional league run by people with football experience,” said Daryl Johnston, the USFL's executive vice president for football operations.

"We showed our fans, our players and coaches, our communities, and our public and corporate partners that the USFL is here to stay."

The Michigan Panthers were coached by former NFL coach Jeff Fisher in 2022, and the team used its first pick on former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson. The Panthers finished 2-8, third place in the North Division.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984