The United States Football League is 60 days away, and the league took a significant step toward sports betting approval on Tuesday.
The USFL and Sportradar announced a partnership, which is an important step in receiving approval as a legal sports betting option.
As part of the deal, Sportradar will serve as the league's official integrity partner and data provider.
“The USFL is thrilled to have forged its first data and integrity partnership with Sportradar,” said Edward Hartman, USFL Executive Vice President, Business Operations. “With more than 60% of American adults living in states where sports wagering is now legal, it was critical to the new USFL that we partner with the market leader in integrity solutions, and Sportradar is the gold standard to which all sports information businesses are measured.”
Sportradar Chief Commercial Officier Ed Blonk added, "with the backing of Sportradar’s industry-leading integrity services, the USFL is taking a proactive step to protect its brand and safeguard the league from match-fixing and betting-related corruption.”
The process is still out of the sportsbooks' hands as far as offering legal betting markets. From here, the USFL must receive approval from regulators such as the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Once added to the approved events list in states, sportsbooks can begin offering odds on the newest football league.
The league, which kicks off on April 16, will feature eight teams: New Jersey Generals, Michigan Panthers, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits.
The first game will be between New Jersey and Birmingham.
The season will consist of 10 games for each team with four of the eight teams making the playoffs. All games will be played in Birmingham, Alabama.
The USFL Draft is scheduled for Feb. 22-23. Any player who graduated high school in 2020 or earlier is draft-eligible.
Some big names with established coaching careers will be on the sidelines. Jeff Fisher was named the head coach of the Panthers, and former North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora was named as the head coach of the Breakers. Other coaches include Skip Holtz (Stallions), Kirby Wilson (Maulers), Mike Riley (Generals), Todd Haley (Bandits), Kevin Sumlin (Gamblers) and Bart Andrus (Stars).
The original USFL played three seasons between 1983-85, but no executives or key figures from then are involved in the relaunch.
