On June 27, 2023, USFL President of Football Operations Daryl Johnston initially confirmed in an interview that the league would return for the 2024 season.

[14] More than 200 players who played in the 2023 XFL season earned invitations to workout for NFL teams, while 63 of them signed contracts.

[7] During the 2023 season, XFL players filed a petition (through the United Steelworkers) for a representation election with Region 16 of the National Labor Relations Board,[18] but decided against joining the union by vote of 124 to 73.

[19] On September 19, 2023, Axios reported that USFL owner Fox Corporation and the Garcia/Johnson/RedBird Capital Partners consortium that owned the XFL were in advanced talks to create a "merger of equals" between the two leagues before the start of the 2024 season, with an agreement potentially announced by the end of the month.

[25] XFL President Russ Brandon will serve in the same capacity for the combined league, with Johnston being assigned to director of football operations.

[27] On December 27, 2023, during the broadcast of the 2023 Holiday Bowl, Fox aired a clip of Jeff Brohm's "let's play football" speech from the original incarnation of the XFL and announced that details on its involvement in the new merged league would follow "very soon.

[29] The eight teams and head coaches were announced by Dwayne Johnson in a guest appearance on ESPN's College GameDay on January 1, 2024.

Former XFL coaches Reggie Barlow, Anthony Becht, and Bob Stoops agreed to a future pay cut to remain in the new league,[34] while Hines Ward refused.

[35] The remaining five coaches—the Generals' Mike Riley, the Stars' Bart Andrus, the Maulers' Ray Horton, the Guardians' Terrell Buckley, and the Sea Dragons' Jim Haslett—saw their positions eliminated with the merger.

[46] NCMFC coaches for the 2024 season will be: Nkere Reed (Renegades), Jason Winchell (Stallions), Eric Allie (Defenders), Yusef Johnson (Roughnecks), Rodney Saulsberry Sr. (Showboats), Marcus Green (Panthers), Matthew Bullock (Brahmas) and Kenneth Boyer (Battlehawks).

[51] While the UFL embraced more of a "developmental league" mentality,[52] they're also targeting veteran backup-type players, with Johnston saying: "there are a lot of guys who are at peace that their NFL window has closed, but they love the camaraderie of the locker room.

[56][58] Initial reports suggested that, contrary to the 2023 XFL season, quarterbacks would not be allowed to sign for salaries higher than the other positional players.

The players selected included: Tavon Austin, Darrynton Evans, Chris Odom, Dru Samia, Josh Jackson, Darrell Henderson, Harrison Hand, Quinton Bell, and Anthony Gordon.

[33] For the 2024 season each team trained at a different stadium in Arlington and share it with another team throughout the season as follows:[49][50] The league plan to hold an untelevised "informal scrimmages" (or "half-games") on March 9, for the league's TV partners (Battlehawks vs Stallions; Defenders vs Panthers; Brahmas vs Roughnecks and Renegades vs Showboats),[130] in order to conduct trial runs for their broadcasts.

[33] The regular season kicked off on March 30, 2024, with a game between the USFL and XFL champions, the Birmingham Stallions and the Arlington Renegades.

[48] A statement in the schedule press release indicated otherwise, that the XFL and USFL would continue to have self-contained championship games with the first and second team in each conference facing each other.

[333] Houston and Memphis also saw substantial declines compared to 2023, with Johnston admitting concern about the Showboats' crowd turnout and noting that it was part of a downward trend for the team dating back to its 2023 home opener; he had hoped for improvement for the 2025 season with more favorable time slots.

[335] In an interview after the season Head of Football Operations Daryl Johnston said: "With our home markets, we’ve got to build that trust there — that we’re not going to leave or [that] the league isn’t going to fold.

However, similar to the 2023 XFL season, some independent media companies recognized offensive, defensive, and special teams players each week.

[129] RedBird Capital Partners owner Gerry Cardinale called it "a tremendous opportunity to achieve something unique.

[378] Other UFL's sponsors include: Westgate Resorts, Progressive Insurance, PepsiCo (Gatorade), The Coca-Cola Company (Simply Spiked), CBD Kratom, and Molson Coors.

Johnson and Garcia also use the league to promote their own brands, Teremana Tequila and ZOA Energy Drink.

[379] On April 6, 2024, the league announced a partnership with the United States Army,[380] who paid an estimated $10-11 million for jersey patch sponsorship and other promotional considerations.

instead reduced its sponsorship payout after Johnson failed to deliver on personal social media posts as part of the agreement).

Curt Menefee and Joel Klatt, who served as Fox's lead broadcast team for the XFL and USFL since 2020, continued in that capacity in 2024.

[404][402] ESPN leading crew featured Mike Monaco or Drew Carter (alternating throughout the season), Sam Acho, Stormy Buonantony and Cole Cubelic.

[405][406] Through the first eight weeks of the season, the UFL's broadcast partners had sold $3.7 million in in-game commercial inventory at an average of $6,750 per advertisement; in addition to the UFL's league sponsors, regular television sponsors included Jersey Mike's, T-Mobile, IBM, Liberty Mutual and Subway, among numerous pharmaceuticals.

[412] Writing for ProFootballTalk, Mike Florio was skeptical of the league's long-term odds given the history of spring football and attendance figures he saw as mediocre,[413] while acknowledging "The U.F.L.

citing a fake field goal in which punter/holder Brad Wing threw a touchdown pass to Alex Mollette, the team's center who was lined up as a tackle eligible.

with writer Clem crediting the Wing-to-Mollette play and Bates's field goal for reigniting his interest in spring football.