Memphis Showboats Return to USFL

Memphis Showboats Ticket Deposits Tickets Memphis, TN | Ticketmaster

It was recently announced by the United States Football League (USFL) that they were changing their Tampa Bay Bandits franchise to the Memphis Showboats.  This past spring the USFL returned with eight former franchise names which played all regular season games in Birmingham, Alabama.  This season the league has decided to split up the teams with four teams playing in another hub city and four teams playing in Memphis, Tennessee.  The league is rumored to locating to a Michigan city as the other hub instead of Birmingham for the 2023 season. FedEx Founder and CEO Fred Smith is largely responsible for bringing the team and league back to Memphis.  To make room for the Showboats and keep the league at eight teams, the league replaced the Tampa Bay Bandits with the Memphis Showboats.  The league claims that the Bandits will be in "hiatus" status and will be back in the future when the league considers franchises to play in their local markets.

Memphis will be joined by the Houston Gamblers, Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers.  The other hub city will have the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Pittsburgh Maulers and Philadelphia Stars.

The new Showboats team will sport different logo and colors than the previous franchise.  The new team will have the logo of a blue steamboat with yellow around it compared to the old logo with gray and red lettering.  The Showboats will play at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (formerly known as the Liberty Bowl).

The original Memphis Showboats played in the first version of the USFL played in 1984-1985.  They lost in the semifinals in 1985.  The team folded along with the league when an attempt to move the league season from spring to fall failed.

The new Showboats will set sail in April.


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