Virginia Beach, Va. – The defending champion Virginia Destroyers and the Las Vegas Locomotives will meet in a rematch of last season’s title game to kick off the United Football League’s fourth season under a revised and enhanced schedule that moves the opening games back one week and the championship matchup two weeks to Dec. 1, the UFL announced today.
The Destroyers, coached by Marty Schottenheimer, play the Locomotives, coached by Jim Fassel, on Wednesday, Sept. 26, in Las Vegas at 9 p.m. ET, to open the season.
The UFL and broadcast partner CBS Sports Network agreed to modify the start of the season. The original opening-week games – Sacramento at Las Vegas and Virginia at Omaha – move to the end of the schedule to form the new Week 8. Sacramento-Las Vegas is now set for Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 9 p.m. ET; Virginia-Omaha goes to Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. ET.
The championship game is now Dec. 1 at a location to be named later. The extra time allotted in the enhanced schedule will allow for better preparation by the title contenders and for a Saturday broadcast.
“These changes will enable the UFL to give our dedicated fans, our eager ticket buyers, and CBS Sports Network the competitive product that we have promised,” UFL President Bill Mayer said.
The UFL’s four teams will each play eight games, all of them televised by CBS Sports Network, which is available in more than 99 million homes. The UFL expects to announce reporting dates for players and the start of training camp shortly.
UFL games will be played on Wednesday nights and Friday nights in seven of the eight weeks, the exceptions being the championship game and in Week 5, when the games shift to Tuesday night (Oct. 23, Sacramento at Omaha, 9 p.m. ET) and Thursday night (Oct. 25, Las Vegas-Virginia, 6 p.m.).
Virginia, which ended Las Vegas’ two-year run as champion, opens at home in Virginia Beach, on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. ET.
“We’re anxious to get going and we hope to build on what we were able to accomplish last year,” Schottenheimer said.
The Enhanced UFL Schedule (All times Eastern)
Week 1
Wednesday, Sept. 26: Virginia at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 28: Omaha at Sacramento, 11 p.m.
Week 2
Wednesday. Oct. 3: Omaha at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 5: Sacramento at Virginia, 7 p.m.
Week 3
Wednesday, Oct. 10: Las Vegas at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 12: Virginia at Omaha, 7 p.m.
Week 4
Wednesday, Oct, 17: Las Vegas at Omaha, 9 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 19: Sacramento at Virginia, 9 p.m.
Week 5 (games Tuesday and Thursday)
Tuesday, Oct. 23: Sacramento at Omaha, 9 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 25: Las Vegas at Virginia, 6 p.m.
Week 6
Wednesday, Oct. 31: Omaha at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 2: Virginia at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
Week 7
Wednesday, Nov. 7: Las Vegas at Sacramento, 9 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 9: Omaha at Virginia, 9:30 pm.
Week 8
Wednesday, Nov. 14: Sacramento at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 16: Virginia at Omaha, 7 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Saturday, Dec. 1: Time and place to be determined
