ARLINGTON, TX – February 25, 2025 – The United Football League today announced its rules changes for the upcoming 2025 season. Continuously striving to deliver a more exciting, fast-paced game on the field, the league is making changes in three key areas for this season: kickoffs, coaches challenges, and onside kicks:
New Kickoff Formation
The UFL’s kickoff rules this season will be based on a combination of the kickoff used by XFL Legacy during its 2023 season and the NFL Dynamic Kickoff used by the NFL during the 2024 season. These changes include:
● Kickoffs will now start from the 30-yard line after being at the 20-yard line last season.
● The 10 remaining players on the kickoff team will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. All kicking team players were at the 20-yard line, including the kicker, last season.
● The receiving team’s set up zone will stretch from its 35-yard line to the 30-yard line and must have at least nine players in that zone. Last season, the receiving team had to have a minimum of eight players, but no more than nine players, in their set up zone, which was the kicking team’s 30- to 40-yard lines (10-yard zone).
● The landing zone will be from the receiving team’s 20-yard line to the goal line.
● The ball must reach the landing zone, or it will be spotted at the 40-yard line.
● There will be two touchback spots: the 35-yard-line for balls kicked into the end zone and the 20-yard line for balls that hit in the landing zone and then enter the end zone. All touchbacks were placed at the 25-yard line last season.
Head Coach’s Challenge
The Head Coach’s Challenge will be expanded in 2025. This extension will feature:
● Each head coach will earn a second challenge if the first challenge is successful.
● The head coach can challenge any officiating decision as long as the team has a timeout remaining.
Onside Kicks
The league has eliminated this option. The kickoff team will be able to retain possession of the ball with a fourth down and 12-yard scrimmage play from its own 28-yard line.
Noteworthy Rules Returning
The following noteworthy rules will be retained this season:
● Teams will have three scrimmage play options (run or pass) to elect to go for one, two, or three points after a touchdown:
○ 2-yard line = 1 point for a successful try
○ 5-yard line = 2 points for a successful try
○ 10-yard line = 3 points for a successful try
● Overtime will consist of alternating attempts to score from the opponent’s five-yard-line with no kicks allowed. It will remain a best-of-three format until a winner has been determined.
● A double forward pass on one play from behind the line of scrimmage is legal. In these situations, the ball cannot cross the line of scrimmage at any time prior to the second forward pass being thrown.
The 2025 season will kick off on Friday, March 28, at 8 p.m. ET when FOX Sports debuts FOX UFL Friday – a new night dedicated to UFL action taking place each Friday during the 10-week regular season – with a matchup featuring the St. Louis Battlehawks against the Houston Roughnecks. The league’s second season will conclude on Saturday, June 14, when ABC presents the 2025 UFL Championship Game.