The United Football League enters its second season on March 28th, following the merger of the XFL and USFL. The UFL recently resolved a marketing agreement with the U.S. Army that gained negative attention in 2024. Not only for the United Football League but also The Rock.

The $11 million marketing partnership between the U.S. Army and the UFL, which included uniform logos and social media promotions from UFL co-owner Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, concluded with both parties reaching some type of an agreement.

According to UFL News Hub Sources, this news was a bit of a surprise. Before this article from Front Office Sports came out, the U.S. Army had not paid a dime to the United Football League and some thought they never would. No word on what the agreement amount is. We are sure it wont be anything close to the $11 million of the initial partnership.

Military.com reported in July 2024 that internal Army documents showed concerns about the partnership’s effectiveness. The initial agreement required Johnson to create five social media posts valued at $1 million each, but only two posts were published.

UFL President Russ Brandon confirmed the resolution in a Front Office Sports interview. “We have great relationships still with the Army, you know, General George and Colonel Butler and that whole team,” Brandon said. “I think we worked through all that and I think we’re all in a good place.”

Army marketing spokesperson Laura DeFrancisco clarified the situation, stating “The Army was not ever trying to get money back from the UFL. This was a contract—an entity is paid for services rendered upon completion of a contract, not before.” DeFrancisco noted that both parties reached an agreement for fair market value of the provided promotions.

The Army does not plan to continue its marketing partnership with the UFL for the 2025 season. To be fair to the United Football league, none of the US Military marketing deals have done well in gaining recruits. This goes all the back back in 2012 with NASCAR and even when they created their own video game.

The UFL needs to land a major sponsor to help with the cost of the 2025 season. No word on if Michael Strahan brand will return or one of the many Dwayne Johnson brands like Zoa or Teremana.

author avatar
Mark Perry Editor
Mark Perry, a devoted sports journalist and founder of UFL News Hub, has been a key figure in XFL, USFL and UFL coverage since 2018.

1 Comment

  • Posted January 15, 2025 6:29 pm 0Likes
    by Ken Granito

    I am happy the Army and the UFL feel good about each other. It is a shame however the Army will not be a sponser this year. I think the logo looked great on the field and on the uniforms. Whether anyone would ever admit to signing up to 4 years of their life in the service because they advertise in the UFL or because the Rock is cool is a little shortsighted. To me it would be the great commercials showing the stories of how it depicts a family and a young adult coming together in agreement that joining the military was good for the youth. I think it did what the spnsorship did what it was supposed to. I feel with all the young fans exposed to the Army advertising helps. It changes the idea of the Army, of what you could be. Hopefully in the future the Army sees what help the UFL can be in getting the word out. When you make a missle for 11 million dollars to get stockpiled and never used, I feel this was a better use.

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