Hello and welcome to the District. This is an updated megathread for the 2025 season.

In order to keep all of the important information consolidated and easy to reference, I've decided to put everything in this thread and leave it stickied for everyone's convenience.

##WHO ARE THE DC DEFENDERS?

You can reference the wikipedia article here for a history of the DC Defenders:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Defenders

TLDR: The DC Defenders were established in 2020 as part of the revived XFL. The Defenders had the most wins in the XFL East Division prior to the Covid shutdown. The team was brought back for the 2023 XFL season, beating the Seattle Sea Dragons in the XFL North Division Championship, and going on to lose the 2023 XFL Championship against the Arlington Renegades. The team was then carried over into the new United Football League (UFL) for the 2024 season as one of 4 teams in the XFL Conference following a merger with the USFL. The league has confirmed the team will be part of the 2025 UFL season.

##GAME SCHEDULE

The league has confirmed the kickoff date of March 28, 2025, and the date of the UFL Championship game will be on June 14, 2025. The home and away opponents were officially announced here for the DC Defenders. Additional info on the Defenders 2025 opponents can be found here. The league has advised they expect the full season schedule to be released in the "coming weeks", which would imply late October/early November until further notice.

Below are the confirmed home and away opponents (bolded italicized teams denote in-conference matchups):

HOME

• Arlington Renegades
• Birmingham Stallions
• Memphis Showboats
• San Antonio Brahmas
• St. Louis Battlehawks

AWAY

• Arlington Renegades
• Houston Roughnecks
• Michigan Panthers
• San Antonio Brahmas
• St. Louis Battlehawks

All Defenders home games will continue to be played at Audi Field. Due to scheduling complications with other tenants of Audi Field, all Defenders home games will be played on Sundays.

It has also been confirmed by the league that there will 10 Friday night games during the season, so we do expect the Defenders to play in at least one of these primetime slots.

##HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN (USA)

All games are expected to be broadcast on Fox, ABC, ESPN, and FS1.

For streaming options, you can use the ESPN+ app for the ABC and ESPN games, and the Fox Sports app for the Fox games (Fox Sports app requires a subscription to either Direct TV, Fubo TV, Sling TV, Dish, or Hulu Sports).

There is a workaround for the Fox Sports app. The Fox Sports' website allows a 1-hour preview of their live sports. The method below is how you can watch any Fox games on the app for free using the free preview option.

After your one hour preview is up:

• Copy the link

• Close ALL browser windows

• Open an incognito/private window

• Paste the link

= Endless 1 hour previews. Just keep repeating the process.

All of the ABC and ESPN games will be on ESPN Xtra on SiriusXM. All of the Fox games will be available on Fox Sports on SiriusXM.

##HOW TO WATCH (INTERNATIONAL)

If you're outside the US, best legal option is USTVNow.com.

It's a LEGAL way to watch the games, the one-day pass is roughly 4 USD.

Why is it legal?

While the channel advertises to be for US Military abroad their terms and conditions DO NOT REFERENCE ANY OF THAT and basically EVERYONE can subscribe (both "legally" and "technically".

Canada has access to Fox and ABC over the air, but Canadians would have to use the above option to watch the ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1 games, unless the league works out a broadcast deal for Canada prior to the season kickoff.

##WHERE TO BUY TICKETS?

You can buy tickets from the UFL site here.

Click this link for the season ticket member renewal page on ticket master.

DC Defenders Season Ticket Member Benefits:

• Priority access to renew same seat location for 2026

• 25% discount on merchandise at shop.theufl.com (online only)

• Priority access to purchase additional seats at STM pricing

• Priority access to purchase additional seats for Playoffs and 2025 Championship Game

• Priority access to all team events

• NEW - Priority access to exclusive preseason season ticket member event

Exclusive to Premium Season Ticket Members:

• NEW - Priority gameday access to on-field experiences

All Season Ticket Members who renew by August 23, 2024 will receive a rally towel at the 2025 Defenders Home Opener. All Season Ticket Members in the Supporters Section will also receive a commemorative “Beer Snake” cup at the 2025 Defenders Home Opener.

Season ticket sales launched to the general public on October 15, 2024. Below is a direct link to purchase season tickets:

• DC Defenders Season Tickets

Cost is approximately $23.00 per game.

Audi Field seating map for DC Defenders season tickets can be found here for reference.

##PARKING & TAILGATING INFO

All of the Defenders home games are played at Audi Field, 100 Potomac Ave SW, Washington, DC.

Audi Field has several locations of gates that may be used for entry and exit:

• Gate A – Located on the Northeast corner of the stadium at the corner of Potomac Ave SW 7 1st St SW

• Gate B – Located on the East side of the stadium at the corner of 1st St SW & S St SW.

• Gate C – Located on the Northwest corner of the stadium at the corner of 2nd St SW & R St SW. Across from Fort Mcnair.

• Premium Entry – Located on the east side of the stadium between Gate A & Gate B. Adjacent to the Ticketmaster box office.

Stadium map here for reference.

The Geico Garage located at Nationals Park will be open and available on a game-by-game basis for Audi Field Events beginning two hours prior to kickoff.

Parking spots at GEICO Garage will be priced at $60 and will be available for purchase via credit card only (no cash) at the GEICO Garage on match days. There will be no pre-sales.

The garage will open to fans 2.5 hours before kick-off, and close 2.5 hours after the match ends. No overnight parking, no oversized vehicles, must be below clearance (7ft 8in), no storage in parking spots (Trailers, etc.), and no tailgating.

The following are public transit options to access the stadium:

• By Metro - Audi Field is located at the Navy Yard metro station and is accessible on the green line. The closest transfer point from blue, orange, silver, red, and yellow lines is L’Enfant Plaza. MetroRail hours of operation, fares, and delay information can be found at their website, wmata.com. You can find a map of the various lines here.

• By Bus - Audi Field is accessible by the 74 and P6 Metrobus lines. For more information, visit wmata.com.

• By Bicycle - There is a complimentary bicycle valet is located at the corner of 2nd Street SW and T Street. We also offer multiple bike racks around Audi Field. There is a Capital Bike Share station at the corner of First Street and K Street SE.

The Metro is recommended by fans as the best option to access the stadium. Recommended walking routes from transit can be found here.

Since tailgating is not allowed at the stadium, most fans recommend meeting up at one of the bars in Navy Yard such as Mission (1221 Van Street SE, Washington, DC), Walters (10 N St SE, Washington, DC), or The Bullpen (1201 Half St SE, Washington, DC). All of the above are within walking distance of Audi Field.

##WHERE TO GET MERCH?

The official UFL store can be accessed here.

You can also find DC Defenders and other UFL merchandise sold at Dick's Sporting Goods. Direct link to their Defenders gear is here.

##INFO FOR NEWCOMERS

For your reference, the below is some basic information for newcomers to the Defenders fan community.

• The Shieldmen: This is what the Defenders call their fans.

• Team Slogan/Rally Cry: Officially, it's SHIELDS UP! The Shieldmen also use, "DEFEND DC!".

• The Beer Snake: This is a fan tradition at games that started during the 2020 XFL season. You can check out this article published by the league for more information.

• Lemons: For the first game of the 2023 XFL season, Audi Field banned the beer snake, which caused fans to protest by throwing lemons (provided as garnish for drinks served from the concession stands) onto the field. The league worked with Audi Field to remove the ban on the beer snake following this incident (beer snake was then confirmed as being allowed in specific sections of the stadium). Lemons have remained a part of the fan iconography ever since.

• Rivals: Biggest rivals in order from most hated to least are the St. Louis Battlehawks, Arlington Renegades, and San Antonio Brahmas. These are also the 3 teams in direct competition with the Defenders in the XFL conference. The Defenders have an outside conference rivalry with the Houston Roughnecks (USFL conference).

• Official Fight Song: Put Your Hands Up High

If you're new to the league in general, check out this thread for beginners. Lots of good information there.

##2024 SEASON REVIEW

Check out this end of season team write-up for the DC Defenders 2024 season, written by /u/Pitiful_Ad8641. This is a good and informative recap of the season for anyone that missed it from the UFL community.

TLDR: Defenders had an up and down season in 2024, finished third in the XFL Conference and missed the playoffs.

##2024 UFL COLLEGE DRAFT

The DC Defenders picked 4th overall in each round of the UFL College Draft on July 17th, 2024. The following players were picked by the DC Defenders in the College Draft:

Link to the full UFL College Draft Hub here

The players eligible for the College Draft were 2024 undrafted rookie free agents. The draft is for the UFL teams to claim these player's rights should they choose to play in the UFL.

##FREE AGENT DRAFT

It is expected that the UFL will have a free agent draft, likely in January, 2025, which will include players that participated in the summer and fall player showcases. You can review the UFL offseason megathread here for more information.

##CURRENT ROSTER LIST

For anyone interested, up to date roster lists, as well as tracking of UFL player movement, can be found on this Google sheets document maintained by Nick Thorn from Pro Football Newsroom. This is the best and most organized list available, and also includes information on the coaching staff, and pre-merger players (e.g. AAF, XFL, and USFL).

Direct link to the roster page is here.

##ANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Aside from the full schedule release in the fall, it is expected that the league will formally announce who will be the head coach for the 2025 season when the new league contract year starts in January. Current Head Coach Reggie Barlow has stated he plans to return for the 2025 season.

##OTHER INFORMATION

You can check out the mega-thread on /r/UnitedFootballLeague here for more general information.

##OUTRO

We hope to see all of you at Audi Field for the Defenders home games in the 2025 season.

SHIELDS UP!!! DEFEND DC!!!