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          UFL announces inaugural season schedule with March 30 kickoff

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          • Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 5, 2024, 08:00 AM ET
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              Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
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          The new United Football League announced its full 43-game schedule Monday, kicking off with a March 30 matchup of the champions from the two leagues that formed it and concluding with a championship game June 16.

          UFL teams will practice in a central location near Dallas but will play five games apiece in their home markets as part of a 10-game schedule. The league, formed last year via a merger between the XFL and USFL, will open with a March 30 game between the USFL champion Birmingham Stallions and the XFL champion Arlington Renegades at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas (1 p.m. ET/FOX).

          The rest of the opening weekend's schedule includes:

          • St. Louis Battlehawks at Michigan Panthers (March 30, 4 p.m. ET/FOX)

          • D.C. Defenders at San Antonio Brahmas (March 31, noon ET/ESPN)

          • Memphis Showboats at Houston Roughnecks (March 31, 3 p.m. ET/ESPN)

          The UFL will host two conference championship games the weekend of June 8-9 to determine the participants in its league championship game the following weekend.

          Every UFL game will be televised on either ABC, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2 or FS1. ABC/ESPN games will be streamed on ESPN+, and Fox games will stream on the Fox Sports app. Nearly three-quarters of the games will air on either ABC or Fox.

          "The UFL will now have exceptional platforms through which fans can experience spring football. We are equally excited to welcome new and returning fans back into our buildings this season so they can immerse themselves in the energy around spring football," UFL president/CEO Russ Brandon said in a statement. "Our players are here to perform and to reach the next level, and our fans are going to be treated to an excellent on-field product and in-stadium experience."

          The league also confirmed all eight home stadiums for 2024. They are:

          • Birmingham Stallions: Protective Stadium

          • Arlington Renegades: Choctaw Stadium

          • Houston Roughnecks: Rice Stadium

          • D.C. Defenders: Audi Field

          • Memphis Showboats: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

          • San Antonio Brahmas: The Alamodome

          • Michigan Panthers: Ford Field

          • St. Louis Battlehawks: The Dome at America's Center