Fans, experts see USFL-XFL merger as win-win

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

A potential merger between two spring football leagues appears to be in the works.

Birmingham Stallions fans are still celebrating their second straight USFL Championship victory from back in July. Now comes word the league could expand with reports of the XFL merging with the USFL.

"It's going to be real exciting," Stallions fan club president Blake Muir said. "It's going to be an opportunity to bring players from the XFL over to the USFL and merge those players together, so we can truly find out who the best players are versus having them play in two different leagues."

The USFL recently announced the league's third season, set for next spring. The reported XFL merger creates a whole new series of possibilities.

"We had two sort of competing leagues in a space where we've had a hard time just getting one to be able to make it, right?" Darin White with Samford University's Center for Sports Analytics said. "And so, it's not surprising. But I'm excited about it because if you look at the way the leagues will likely merge, there's only one city and that's Houston where there is an overlap where both leagues have the same team. So, we could end up with 15 or 16 teams total."

Fans in Central Alabama say they hope the merger is a good sign they'll have several more seasons to enjoy football games in the spring in Birmingham's Uptown area.

"It's going to bring more teams in, could extend the season out, as well as makes me believe there is going to be a season 4, 5, and 6," Muir added.

USFL fans say they like that they're not at a college or NFL game. They say it's what makes it unique.

"We saw how the players responded to us when we started being loud and coming together as a group and it made us feel really great being able to support and their reactions," Muir said.

A tradition fans say they can't wait to continue.