Portal:American football/Selected league/1
The United Football League (UFL) is a professional American football league based in the United States that began play in October 2009. The league currently has four franchises playing in markets where the National Football League (NFL) has no current presence. The league's defending champions are the Virginia Destroyers. For 2012, the league plans to expand to include two new teams, and an expansion to the playoff format, involving two semifinal games prior to the UFL Championship Game.
The league primarily consists of players who have at one time or another played for a National Football League team. While the league has no connection with the NFL, and does not intend to have such a relationship in the future, some have speculated that it could become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL. Other reports described the league as a "competitor" to the NFL or as a "second-tier pro league." Some press articles had speculated that the UFL's business plan was to be present if (and, as it turned out, when) the NFL and its players' union reached the end of their collective bargaining agreement in March 2011, giving players who would be locked out an opportunity to play professional football outside the NFL; said lockout was resolved in July 2011, which negated any benefits the UFL attempted to reap from the labor dispute.
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