Report: UFL's labor issues threaten start of season

Field Level Media|published: Tue 4th March, 13:22 2025

Showboats’ Daewood Davis (2) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the UFL game between the San Antonio Brahmas and Memphis Showboats in Simmons Liberty Bank Stadium in Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

The start of the second season of the United Football League is at risk of being delayed unless ongoing labor talks improve, Front Office Sports reported Tuesday.

A new collective bargaining agreement remains unsigned despite the fact that all of the league's 24 quarterbacks reported to training camp Monday after staging a holdout of sorts over the weekend.

The quarterbacks were reportedly frustrated by a raise over last year's reported $55,000 base salary they called "negligible" and also wanted year-round health insurance. They collectively decided not to attend a QBs-only training camp Thursday through Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

The players received a new proposal that showed enough improvement in health care and player salary requests, according to Front Office Sports, to get them back to camp.

However, the ongoing talks are described by Front Office Sports' sources as "shaky," and the players are reportedly willing to take further labor actions if the UFL doesn't budge on its current offer.

Monday was the start of training camp for all eight teams. The regular season -- the second season following a merger between the USFL and XFL - begins on March 28 with a matchup between the St. Louis Battlehawks and the Houston Roughnecks at TDECU Stadium, home of the University of Houston Cougars.

Fox owns a 50 percent stake in the UFL. The other 50 percent is controlled by the XFL Properties LLC headed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and backed by RedBird Capital Partners.

--Field Level Media