On September 23rd the UFL announced that Birmingham and Houston were being replaced with Pawtucket and Colorado Springs. We later found out that the Renegades coaching staff and roster would be part of a three-team swap with the previously mentioned Stallions and Gamblers. That meant the Houston Gamblers were going to be moved and rebranded as the Dallas Renegades that we have had in the league since the 2023 XFL. Now, a month later, we have the identities of the teams for the new markets! For Pawtucket, we have the Birmingham Stallions being rebranded to the Rhode Island Breakers. For Colorado Springs, we have the Dallas Renegades being rebranded to the Colorado Stampede.
Rhode Island Breakers
The UFL held an event at Centreville Bank stadium where they announced the Rhode Island team’s identity on October 25th. During this event they announced that the team would be called the Rhode Island Breakers. The event saw head coach AJ McCarron, multiple players from the roster, and UFL President Russ Brandon attend the event wearing new Breakers merch and talking about what the future holds for the team and market. The initial reaction by fans is very positive to the name, but mixed with the logo. When shown next to all the other team logos it gives a very ‘secondary logo’ kind of feeling. The main reason for the positivity with the name is due in large part to the USFL’s Breakers.
In the UFL’s press release for the Breakers announcement they brought up the original Breakers from the original USFL. During the first USFL season in 1983 you had the Boston Breakers who averaged a league-worst 12,735 attendance which is why they moved to New Orleans for the 1984 season. In the modern iteration of the USFL, the New Orleans Breakers returned and fielded two very fun playoff teams before being left out of the merger. Most fans assumed that if the Breakers were to return it would be in New Orleans. This was due to how high the TV ratings for New Orleans were despite the modern Breakers never playing in the city. Even with that being said, most people are still happy with the Breakers being back in RI. This means that we will still have the USFL being represented in some way for the 2027 UFL season.
Colorado Stampede
Colorado’s stadium, Weidner Field, held an event to announce the team’s name. The event was held on October 25th where it was announced that the team would be called the Colorado Stampede. Just like in RI, you had Stampede players and their head coach in Rick Neuheisel make an appearance at the event. The event had merch available for fans just like in RI. The reaction to this team is the opposite of the Breakers. Most people love the logo with only the ‘C’ being somewhat controversial compared to the name which has gotten very mixed reactions from fans.
The logo has been compared a lot to the mid-2000’s era Buffalo Sabres logo. The branding also goes along with the Colorado Buffaloes branding to some extent which goes with how Neuheisel coached the Buffaloes back in the ’90s. The branding also works with how the ProRodeo Hall of Fame is located in Colorado Springs. The color scheme also makes them feel very unique by using more awkward colors in awkward shades. The overall branding for this team feels like one of the best in the league, even with the mediocre name.
Copied Names?
The one other point to bring up with both of these teams is with their names. Both team names are already being used by people within their areas. For RI, you have the Rhode Island Breakers AC fishing club that are already established in the area. With Colorado Springs, you have the Colorado Stampede PRCA rodeo based in Grand Junction, Colorado. We will have to wait and see if anything comes from these duplicate names, but it is important to at the very least be aware of them.
Future UFL News
Now that we know the two new franchises, we can start looking at what’s coming next. We have to wait to find out the uniforms for both of the new franchises. While some schedule news has come out, the full schedule is still something to look out for in a couple of months. The next big UFL event is the first ever televised UFL draft taking place on November 18th & 19th.
