---
slug: usfl
title: USFL
depth_tier: league
side: UNIVERSAL
category: Leagues
source_id: "LGE-0005"
created: 2026-05-12
updated: 2026-05-12
canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/leagues/usfl
aliases:
  - United States Football League
  - USFL football
  - spring football
---
# USFL

## Short Definition

A spring professional football league that operated 1983–1985 and was revived in 2022 before merging with the XFL to form the United Football League in 2024.

## Definition

The United States Football League was a professional spring football organization that operated in two distinct eras: the original USFL from 1983 to 1985 and a revived version from 2022 to 2023 before merging with the XFL to form the UFL in 2024.

The original 1983–1985 USFL launched with significant investment and some of the era's best football talent, signing Herschel Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White among others. The league initially competed with the NFL for talent rather than viewers—operating in spring to avoid direct game schedule conflicts—before an ill-fated decision to move to a fall schedule for 1986, directly competing with the NFL. The league suspended operations before that fall season began.

The original USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, arguing the league had monopolized the professional football market. A jury found in the USFL's favor but awarded only $1 in damages—tripled to $3 under antitrust law—an outcome widely regarded as a legal victory for the NFL. The case remains one of sports law's most studied antitrust decisions.

The 2022 revival, launched by Fox Sports, operated two seasons with eight franchises in a centralized hub model before the ownership group determined that merging with the competing XFL produced better financial and operational prospects than continued independent operation. The merger created the UFL with backing from both Fox and ESPN, providing the broadcast infrastructure that previous spring leagues consistently lacked.

## Example

"The original USFL signed Herschel Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White—and still couldn't survive. The NFL's grip on professional football was total. The antitrust case proved it legally and cost the NFL exactly three dollars."

## Common Confusion

The 2022 USFL revival is not the same organization as the 1983–1985 original—it shares the name and some nostalgic branding but was created as a new entity by Fox Sports. The original USFL's legal battle with the NFL—in which it won a $1 antitrust judgment that was tripled to $3 under antitrust law—is one of professional sports' most famous legal cases and belongs to the original organization, not the revival.

## Related

- ufl
- xfl
- nfl
- nflpa
- cba

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Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/leagues/usfl