The United States Football League, a new independent football league, is slated to open their inaugural season on April 16th. The league has announced that 15 states have authorized legal sports betting operators to allow users to place wagers on games played by the new league.
Over the years a few different leagues have tried to take advantage of football’s immense popularity and offer a springtime league for fans of the pigskin who just can’t wait until the fall. We will see another new league embark on this endeavor in April, but this time the upstart league has the advantage of an expanded legal
online sports betting
landscape to help boost interest. Even recent attempts like the Alliance of American Football in 2019 and the XFL in 2020 were operating with a far smaller pool of potential fans with the ability to place legal wagers on games.
In a press release from March 3, the league announced that legal betting on USFL games will be available to bettors located in 15 states. Regulatory approval for the new league has been secured in Iowa, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
In addition, Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Wisconsin do not require the state to approve new leagues, allowing operators to offer wagering on USFL games at their discretion.
Gambling a driving force behind the new league
The new league clearly is counting on gamblers to stimulate interest. USFL Executive Vice President Edward Hartman said:
“We believe that the availability of legal sports wagering is another way fans can deepen their engagement with our games. We look forward to our fans being able to bet responsibly on USFL games in every state where sports wagering is legal.”
The league’s timing is excellent, as football fans are still raving about a thrilling playoff season. In addition, with Major League Baseball still engaged in a bitter labor dispute that has delayed Opening Day indefinitely, sports bettors will be looking for alternatives to fill the void. The USFL is in a good position to capitalize on these advantages.
How does the USFL season work?
While the new league shares both the same concept as well as the same name as the original USFL that was active from 1983 until 1985, the two leagues are not officially affiliated. This distinction is important in establishing the league as a new entity and allowing it to create new television broadcasting contracts. The league will feature eight teams and a 10-game schedule. While each of the eight teams is associated with a different city, all regular season games will be played in Birmingham, AL. Playoff games and the league championship game will take place in Canton, OH.
The league has secured some impressive distribution agreements to ensure a large number of viewers are able to watch. Both NBC and Fox have signed multi-year rights agreements with the league. Between the 40 regular season games on the schedule and three playoff games there are 43 total games available. Both networks will broadcast the inaugural game simultaneously, and the other 42 games will be split evenly between the networks.
For football fans, this means a chance to find a new team and fill their spring and summer up with football instead of just counting down the days until training camp. For bettors located in the 15 authorized states, it is an opportunity for another choice when it comes to legal sports wagers at
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