Gamblers will take the field in April 2022.
Does anyone remember the USFL (United States Football League)? This generation may not, but Gen Xers would. The league played in the spring after the NFL season ended. Founded in 1982, the USFL played through 1985, and the Houston Gamblers were one of the teams, led by quarterback Jim Kelly, who went on to fame and fortune with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
Jim Kelly in 1984 (photo, Houston Chronicle)
Now, in the never-ending attempt to figure out how to field and sustain spring pro football, the USFL is returning, and (I’m glad to say) so are the Gamblers. Fox Sports owns the league and reportedly has committed $150-200 million over three years for the operation.
Eight teams will hit the field in April 2022. The clubs include the North Division’s Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, and the South Division’s Birmingham Stallions, New Orleans Breakers, and Tampa Bay Bandits. The Gamblers will compete in the South Division.
But let’s face it: re-establishing the USFL is a roll of the dice. The landscape is littered with well-conceived (and not so well-c0nceived and operated) attempts at spring pro ball. Will this be the time it works?
At least Houston fans will get a birdseye view. The logo is the same, but the team won’t take the field where they once played–the Houston Astrodome, which no longer exists. Instead, Houston will play home games at NRG Stadium, just as the Houston Texans do.
I’m excited to have another professional football team in Houston, and I hope the team and league will make it. They’ll have company, too. The XFL will return in 2023.
I say, “Bring it on!” Without a doubt, football is America’s game, and now we’ll be able to watch the game nearly all year round.
