In the past, both the XFL and the USFL had offered different rules that were eventually adopted by the National Football League and now accepted by fans.
Will this year be any different?
We’ll see, because there are some rules that will be in place now (The UFL | United Football League Rules for 2024 Announced) that the XFL and the USFL have come together as the United Football League (UFL), set to begin play on March 30.
Overtime
The league does have overtime, and here are the rules: alternating attempts from the opponent’s 5-yard-line, no kicks allowed, a best-of-three format – according to the league rules – until a winner has been determined.
Like that?
Here are a few more.
Extra points, touchdowns
So you still get a point in the league for running or passing successfully into the end zone from the 2-yard-line following a touchdown. If a team runs a play after a touchdown successfully from the 5, it’s good for two points. And it’s good for three points if you make it from the 10 – if you’re brave enough.
Kickoffs, touchbacks
Kickoffs, as it stats in the official UFL rules, look a little more like traditional kickoffs in the NFL or in college football, but from the 20. Touchbacks allow the receiving team to take possession at the 25-yard-line. A punt that goes out of bounds inside the 25-yard-line is considered a touchback and placed at the 25.
Onside kicks and “alternative possessions”
Now, let’s talk “onside kicks,” or the UFL’s alternative to them.
The league allows onside kicks, but there’s also what they call the alternative possession option. And it goes like this.
If a team is tied, or trails in the fourth quarter, it can try to keep the ball by attempting a fourth-down and 12 conversion from its own 28-yard-line. You fail – the opponent gets the ball at your 28.
Two forward passes on the same play;
how is a catch defined in the UFL?
Here’s a couple of other interesting rules.
As the rules allowed for in both the XFL and the USFL last year, the UFL will allow teams to throw two forward passes on both play. Not three, not four, or more, but two.
And a catch is defined as “a player securing control of the ball prior to the ball touching the ground; and touching the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands.”
Defensive pass interference
The UFL adopted the same defensive pass interference rule as the NFL, where it’s a spot foul: if a defensive back interferes with a receiver on a 60-yard pass, at yard number 59, that’s where the ball goes. (Yecch!)
If the foul is less than 15 yards downfield, it’s a 15-yard penalty.
Is there replay? Coaches’ challenges?
The UFL does have instant replay, and “designated members” of the officiating crew can stop a game at any time, according to the rules, before a play begins. The reviews aren’t made on-site, but at a secure location, separate from the site of the game.
Coaches do have challenges, and they may do so one time during the course of the game as long as they have at least one time out left. An unsuccessful challenge, of course, means the coach loses the time out.
The rules are available for download in PDF format: UFL Rules 2024
