It’s been a big year for the USFL, and February is just beginning. Last week the league held a major media event at Protective Stadium where they officially announced Birmingham, AL as the leagues headquarters in 2022.
The league capitalized on the event and also revealed that the debut matchup would see the Birmingham Stallions taking on the New Jersey Generals, which is set to be simulcast on FOX and NBC. They also revealed ticket pricing, which is only $10 (Free for children 15 and under) and promptly put tickets for sale on Ticketmaster.
That wasn’t all though, a couple days later the league officially announced their last two head coaches live on The Herd. Then, we saw the first 30-second promo for the USFL during the NFC Championship, which drew over 50M viewers. Needless to say, the league has been knocking it out of the park.
With all the coaches announced, all eyes are now on the USFL player selection meeting set for Feb 22-23. Speaking of which, it looks like the league has started sending out contracts to participants of the player pool today.
The @USFL has begun sending out contracts 💪🏈 pic.twitter.com/puuDGhl8ZN
— Pro Level Sports Agency, LLC (@ProLevelAgents) February 3, 2022
One big question that’s been on everyone’s mind is what does the pay structure look like in the league.
We’ve heard from multiple sources, and now that @NewsUSFL has released the info, we feel confident doing the same.
According to multiple sources the pay structure is as follows:
10 Week Season Total:
Practice Squad: $15000
Active Roster: $45000— USFL News (@Newsusfl) February 4, 2022
Players will be paid $600 per week during training camp. Practice Squad players will receive $1,500 per week, with Active Roster members receiving $4,500. Additionally, there will be a bonus structure in place for team wins. This roughly comes out to $15,000 for practice squad and $45,000 for active roster.
These numbers are not including any of the win bonuses, or taking into account if the team makes it into the playoffs or championship.
Not to mention, housing and food is going to provided to the players during the season in Birmingham. This is also in addition to the ‘debt-free’ college degree program, where players and staff will be provided free schooling.
Interestingly enough, we’ve seen a few variations of this structure. From what we’ve seen, the base pay can vary from $45,000 to $55,000.
All in all, this is very comparable to what we saw in the XFL; in fact possibly a little more. The average pay in the XFL was roughly $55,000, but tier 1 quarterbacks we’re paid between $150k and $500k; which brings the average way up.
Update: After publication, new details surrounding the win bonus structure became available. According to leaked documents, the bonus structure would net both active roster and practice squad members $850 per win during the regular season and playoffs. Additionally, the championship winning team will receive an extra $10,000 per player. A player will not be eligible for a bonus if they’re inactive for that week. You can read the report here.
As we get closer to the player selection meeting, we expect to hear more details on the pay-side of things. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
Will you be tuning into the USFL this April? Which team are you rooting for? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
