The United Football League announced Wednesday that it will add a team in Utah, starting in the spring of 2028.
The team will play at America First Field in Sandy. The stadium is home to Real Salt Lake men's soccer and the Utah Royals women's soccer team.
The UFL is a spring league that plays its regular season from March to May, followed by a four-team postseason in June. The league fills the NFL offseason and gives players a chance to showcase their talent for NFL teams.
Utah and Oklahoma City will join in 2028, bringing the league to 10 teams. Teams in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, will begin play in 2027, replacing Houston and Birmingham. Utah's team will be the westernmost in the league.
The last time Utah had a professional men's football team was 2019, when the Salt Lake Stallions played in the Alliance of American Football (the former Rio Tinto Stadium). The league ended the same year and later filed for bankruptcy.
The new team brings opportunities for students to support Utah sports.
"I'm excited for this team," said Skyler Dastrup, 23, of Lehi. "I've never been super into football, but I also wasn't super into hockey either until the Utah Mammoth. I hope they come out with some sort of discounted tickets for students because I only went to a couple of Mammoth games because of that ... I think it's super good for the teams too because having more young people there makes the crowd louder and creates a better environment for the players and the fans."
The UFL doesn't just give players the chance to showcase for the NFL. It gives Utah a chance as well.
"I think having a football team here in Utah would be super cool," said Jacob Robles, 20, of Orem. "I think that this is the way to show the NFL that Utah would be a really good place for a team. I think that they just want to do what makes them the most money, so if a lot of people go to these games and show that there's people wanting to watch these games, it might be hard for the NFL to turn that big of a crowd down."
The new team has fans eagerly waiting for March of 2028.