The Birmingham Stallions and Houston Gamblers are no more. The UFL announced its departure from the Birmingham and Houston markets on Thursday.
“Departing a market is never easy and this decision is not a reflection of the dedication shown by players, coaches, fans, local partners, or civic leaders in Birmingham or Houston. We are grateful for their passion, commitment, and support, which have helped shape the continued evolution of the UFL,” UFL Co-Owner Mike Repole said in a released statement.
The Stallions were a founding member of the second iteration of the United States Football League (USFL). The USFL and fellow spring league XFL merged to form the UFL.
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Birmingham won USFL championships in 2022 and 2023. The Stallions secured their third consecutive title in 2024, winning the inaugural UFL championship.
Protective Stadium was the issue at hand for the Stallions.
“With Birmingham, this decision was 100% due to the wrong-sized venue,” Repole said via the UFL. “I appreciate the passion of the fans and respect the history of the Birmingham Stallions. It was clearly my decision that with the wrong sized venue spring football could not succeed in Birmingham. Even on opening day, when 16,000 Stallions fans showed up, the energy, passion, and game atmosphere was not felt due to the size of the venue. We’ve been transparent with local mayors and city leadership that we’d love to return as soon as the right stadium solution becomes available, and we are willing to participate in accelerating those efforts.”
Protective Stadium, which opened in 2021, has a capacity of 47,000. It hosts the Birmingham Bowl and UAB home football games.
“They said the stadium didn’t provide the atmosphere they were seeking and did not fit in their business model,” Jimmie Stephens, chair of the Jefferson County Commission, told AL.com, per ProFootballTalk. “I’m disappointed that their business model did not fit a state-of-the-art, brand new stadium, which would accommodate whatever they needed, including future growth. It bothers me.”
Houston was the only city that had both a USFL and XFL team pre-merger. The branding was complicated by the merger of the Roughnecks and Gamblers franchises, and the UFL blames that inconsistency for why things didn’t work out.
“Houston played an important role in reestablishing modern spring football, and we’re grateful to the fans, partners, and community who supported the Roughnecks and Gamblers,” Repole said in a UFL release. “Houston is a great sports city, and Shell Energy Stadium has been an outstanding partner and venue. The reality is that we did not give this market the consistency it deserved. Between venue changes, team-name changes, and different approaches, we made it difficult to build lasting momentum.”
The UFL is looking for 2 new markets for its 2027 spring season. The league has goals to expand to 10 teams by 2028 and potentially 12 teams by 2030, with hopes of pushing that timeline up to 2029.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
