The United Football League announced on Monday the schedule for the 2024 season. The Panthers season kicks off in less than 2 months on March 30.

The format is similar to last season’s USFL and XFL schedules. 

  • Each team plays 10 regular season games.
  • 6 of the games will be played against USFL conference opponents with 1 home and 1 away game against each. (Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, and Memphis Showboats)
  • 4 games against XFL Conference opponents. The Panthers will play on the road against the San Antonio Brahmas and DC Defenders. They will play a home game against the St. Louis Battlehawks and Arlington Renegades.
  • The Conference Championships will have the top 2 teams from their respective conferences play each other similar to the 2023 season in the USFL and XFL. Under this format success against divisional opponents will be of significant importance.
    • It was thought they may have opted for the top team from each conference and then the top 2 wildcard teams but that is not the case. In the 2023 XFL season, the ST. Louis Battlehawks did not qualify for the playoffs with a 7-3 record while the Arlington Renegades qualified with a 4-6 record.
  • The Panthers’ home schedule is very family friendly with 2 games kicking off at noon on a Sunday, 1 game at 1 PM on a Saturday, and 2 games kicking off at 4 PM on a Saturday.
  • The Panthers will have their games broadcasted on Fox (6), ESPN (3), and ABC (1). Out of their road games, 3 will be on Fox, with 2 on ESPN.
  • The Panthers will need to play better at home this season with their first 3 games being at home. Last season the Panthers went 1-4 at home and did not win at Ford Field until week 10. They will close out the season with 2 consecutive road games.

Week 1: vs St. Louis Battlehawks

Saturday, March 30, 4:00 PM, Detroit

Network: FOX

The Michigan Panthers open up their season at home against the St. Louis Battlehawks. It is a key facet that this is at home as St. Louis has hands down the best home-field advantage with the most ravenous in-stadium fan base. Over the 2023 season, the Battlehawks faithful averaged just over 35 thousand fans per game through the regular season. Regardless it will not be an easy test as St. Louis presents a strong on-field product coming off of a 7-3 season. This is the first meeting between these franchises as the Battlehawks played in the XFL previously.

Week 2: vs Birmingham Stallions

Sunday, April 7, 12:00 PM, Detroit

Network: ESPN

The Panthers will have another difficult task in week 2 as they host the Birmingham Stallions who are arguably the strongest team out of the XFL and USFL. The Stallions are back-to-back USFL Champions and went 8-2 over the regular season last year. They will be without their Alex Mcguogh this season who emerged as a star quarterback last year and is now with the Green Bay Packers.

The Panthers played the Stallions 1 time last season which saw the Stallions emerge victorious by a score of 13-27 in Ford Field. The Stallions went 5-0 on the road last year.

Week 3: vs Houston Roughnecks

Sunday, April 14, 12:00 PM, Detroit

Network: ABC

The Panthers will close out their three-game homestead against the Houston Roughnecks. To clarify, the Houston Roughnecks were the Houston Gamblers last year in the USFL and are having their name changed to the Roughnecks this season. The reason for the name change is the Roughnecks brand was more established recently. It is not the same personnel that the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL had last season but rather that of the Houston Gamblers of the USFL.

Last season the Houston Gamblers finished 5-5 in the USFL’s South Division finishing in third in their division and not qualifying for the playoffs. These 2 teams met in week 1 last season and the Panthers defeated the Gamblers 29-23 as Josh Love set a USFL single-game passing completion percentage at 90%.

Week 4: @ San Antonio Brahmas

Saturday, April 20, 7:00 PM, San Antonio

Network: FOX*

The Panthers’ first road game of the season will take them to San Antonio to face the Brahmas. The San Antonio Brahmas played in the XFL previously thus this will be the first meeting between these franchises. The Brahmas finished outside of qualifying for the playoffs in the XFL last season finishing with a record of 3-7.

Week 5: @ Memphis Showboats

Sunday, April 28, 3:00 PM, Memphis

Network: FOX

Week 5 will see the Panthers hit the road for their first game against divisional opponent Memphis Showboats. The Boats finished 5-5 last season for 4th place in the South Division of the USFL.  The Panthers played the Showboats one time last year in week 4 which they lost 10-29 at home.

Week 6: vs Arlington Renegades

Sunday, May 5, 1:00 PM, Detroit

Network: FOX

Week 6 will see the Panthers host the Arlington Renegades at Ford Field. It will be the first meet between these teams as the Renegades were in the XFL previously. The Renegades finished with a 4-6 record in the regular season and went on to win the XFL Championship led by Luis Perez who had 288 passing yards in the XFL Championship game.

Week 7: @ D.C. Defenders

Sunday, May 12, 12:00 PM, D.C.

Network: ESPN

The Panthers will hit the road to take on the Defenders in the nation’s capital. The Defenders boasted a mighty 9-1 regular season record last season although they were upset by Arlington in the XFL Championship to lose 26-35. This will be the first meeting between the Panthers and Defenders. Presumably, Panthers fans will get to enjoy watching the Defenders’ fanbase create their famous beer snake.

Week 8: vs Memphis Showboats

Saturday, May 18, 4:00 PM, Detroit

Network: FOX

Week 8 will be the final home game for the Panthers in the regular season. It will also mark the beginning of a crucial stretch in the playoff push as the Panthers will play their final 3 games against divisional opponents. The Panthers will host the Showboats for their second meeting of the season.

Week 9: @ Houston Roughnecks

Sunday, May 26, 2:30 PM, Houston

Network: FOX

The Panthers will play the Roughnecks on the road in week 9 for the 2nd of 2 meetings between these divisional opponents. It will also be the first game in which the Panthers play in Houston in the modern USFL era as Houston was previously playing their USFL games in hub cities as the Houston Gamblers. The fanbase will however be already established as the Houston Roughnecks brand was an established team playing in Houston.

Week 10: @ Birmingham Stallions

Saturday, June 1, 12:00 PM, Birmingham

Network: ESPN

The Panthers will finish their season on the road against the back-to-back champs. The Birmingham Stallions went 3-2 at home last season. Within the context of a 10-game season, the final game is very likely to have a significant impact on the final playoff picture.

In Closing

The Panthers will look a lot different this season post-merger. Over the offseason, there have been many key additions such as Wes Hill who was the USFL rushing leader last season in addition to 19 other players acquired in the UFL Dispersal Draft. Michigan will also see the return of E.J. Perry at quarterback who made his first USFL start in week 10 which was the first Panthers home win in Ford Field and proceeded to rack up 370 passing yards in the Panthers playoff loss the following week.

It will be very interesting to see how they stack up against their divisional opponents with so many changes to all of the rosters. The Panthers are the only team joining the UFL from the USFL’s North Division which was frankly the weaker division of the USFL while the other 3 USFL Conference teams played in the South Division which was quite stronger. The first-place team in the North Division was the Pittsburgh Maulers last year who finished with a 4-6 record which was below the 4th place team of the South Division, the Memphis Showboats who finished with a 5-5 record.

Regardless of what happened last season, it has been an offseason full of changes as the Panthers head into a new season, in a new league, with many new personnel.

Jonathan Clink on Twitter

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Jonathan Clink
Jonathan Clink will work as UFL News Hub's primary correspondent covering the Michigan Panthers for the 2024. He has written over 250 articles covering the Canadian Football League prior to joining UFL News Hub. Clink is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba and currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has a background in several other sports as well having played soccer, basketball, and hockey competitively.

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