Philly adds a new pro football team in USFL's relaunch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, meaning football fever is on the rise in Philadelphia.
What better time to announce the return of a long-lost football franchise to the city?
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The USFL is making a comeback in April and the Philadelphia Stars are officially back as one of the league's initial eight franchises, more than 37 years after they left the city for Baltimore during the offshoot league's inaugural run.
Most importantly the team nailed the logo on the return, sticking largely with the original design with just a few modern tweaks:
Beautiful.
The Stars played at Veterans Stadium in 1983 and 1984, and spent the 1984 postseason playing at Franklin Field (and winning the 1984 championship). After the 1984 season the Stars reached a deal to move to Baltimore in 1986, and spent the interim year playing in College Park, Maryland.
The teams are expected to play at a central location, and the games will be broadcast on FOX. The league starts in April and runs through June, with games primarily on Saturdays and Sundays.
This is all very reminiscent of the attempted relaunch of the XFL in 2020, which was unfortunately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually caused the league to fold once again. The XFL is scheduled to try another relaunch in 2023.
Whether there's enough attention for another football league in the United States is not the problem; the country is lousy with football fandom. The problem is whether there's enough talent to fuel extra teams. Some players from the XFL relaunch landed in the NFL, including Temple product P.J. Walker who started at quarterback for the Panthers just two weeks ago, but by and large the talent level drops off precipitously when you leave the NFL.
If nothing else, having the Stars back should lead to some delightful merchandise and a little bit of fun. Can't hurt.
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