USFL Philadelphia Stars to play a little closer to home this season

The Philadelphia Stars will play closer to home this season, but not by much.

The city’s USFL franchise will play its home games at Ford Field in Detroit, the home of the Detroit Lions, according to league sources with knowledge of the move. That’s nearly 300 miles closer than Birmingham, Ala., where the Stars (along with every other team in the league) played their games last season.

The move will be announced during a news conference Thursday morning in Detroit. The Michigan Panthers also will play their home games at Ford Field.

After making it through its inaugural season, the USFL is spreading its wings in Year 2 by dividing franchises geographically in an attempt to get more fans in the stands. USFL executive vice president for operations and longtime Fox Sports NFL analyst Daryl Johnston has said the long-term goal of the league is to have its franchise owned locally and playing in their home cities. The league is currently co-owned by Fox Sports.

“I know how Philly fans are. They have to have that connection to the team,” Johnston told The Inquirer last year. “I want to make sure that when we break from Birmingham and the Philadelphia Stars come home, that the fan base is going to be excited because we’ll hopefully have some connections back into the history of the Eagles franchise.”

One new hub will be in Canton, Ohio, the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Pittsburgh Maulers and the New Jersey Generals will play their home games at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The stadium also will host the North Division playoffs and the USFL championship game.

Elsewhere, the Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers will keep playing at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, while the Memphis Showboats and Houston Gamblers will play their games at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.

Last season, the Stars went 6-4 during the regular season and upset the New Jersey Generals during the North Division playoff game. The Stars lost the USFL title game to the Birmingham Stallions, 33-30, after Stars quarterback Case Cookus suffered a broken leg during a fourth-quarter comeback. Cookus was signed by the Los Angeles Rams to their practice squad this season, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back with the Stars this year.

The second season of the USFL is scheduled to kick off on April 15. The league expects to announce its full schedule in early February, but it will be similar to last year, with the regular season ending in June and playoffs spreading into early July.

As was the case last season, the USFL will have eight teams divided across two divisions:

The USFL will have some competition this season. A rebooted version of the XFL, backed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is scheduled to kick off its first season on Feb. 18 with a Saturday afternoon debut on ABC. The XFL’s 43 games also will air on ESPN, ESPN2, and FX and stream on ESPN+.