Has anyone ever gotten a suite for one of the games, or at least looked into pricing? I know it can vary, but I’m just curious what the general price range is, as I’m considering it as an option for a bachelor party next summer!

Hello and welcome to the Den. 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 MICHIGAN PANTHERS?

You can reference the wikipedia article here for a history of the original 1980's USFL Michigan Panthers:

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

And the below wikipedia article about the current iteration of the team:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Panthers_(2022)

TLDR: The Michigan Panthers were established in 1983 as part of the original USFL. The Panthers won the 1983 USFL Championship, and made it to the quarterfinals the following season (losing to the Los Angeles Express). Following the 1984 season, the team merged with the Oakland Invaders for the 1985 season, and then subsequently folded. The team returned for the 2022 USFL season as part of a revival of the original USFL, and the following year lost in the 2023 USFL North Divisional round to the Pittsburgh Maulers. The team was then carried over into the United Football League following a merger between the USFL and the XFL for the 2024 season. The Panthers finished 2nd in the USFL Conference and lost to the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL Conference Championship game. The league has confirmed the team will play in the upcoming 2025 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 Michigan Panthers. Statements from league president Russ Brandon indicate the full schedule will likely be released in December.

Below is the list of home and away opponents (bolded italicized teams denote in-conference matchups):

HOME

• Birmingham Stallions
• DC Defenders
• Houston Roughnecks
• Memphis Showboats
• San Antonio Brahmas

AWAY

• Arlington Renegades
• Birmingham Stallions
• Houston Roughnecks
• Memphis Showboats
• St. Louis Battlehawks

All Panthers home games are confirmed to be played in Ford Field for the 2025 season.

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

The Panthers have announced the gameday themes for the 5 home games next season.

• Panthers Opening Kickoff
• Throwback Night
• Kids Day With The Panthers
• Hats Off To Heroes
• Fan Appreciation.

More information to be released by the league.

##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)

For US Military living abroad, the best legal option is USTVNow.com.

There is currently no legal option for international audiences to access UFL games.

Canada has access to Fox and ABC over the air, but Canadians will not have access to ESPN/ESPN2/FS1 games unless the league works out a broadcasting deal with TSN for next season.

There is news the league is looking into international TV distribution, and this post will be updated if anything comes to fruition

##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.

Michigan Panthers Season Ticket Member Benefits:

• Priority access to renew same seat location for 2026.

• 25% discount on merchandise at UFLshop.com (online only), an increase from 2024.

• Priority access to purchase additional seats – at Season Ticket Member pricing.

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

• Priority access to all team events.

• Priority access to exclusive Season Ticket Member event.

• NEW All Season Ticket Members who renew by October 22, 2024 will receive a Panthers coaster set at the 2025 Panthers Home Opener

The renewal date for season ticket members starts September 24. Season ticket sales will be opened up to the general public on October 29.

Direct link to purchase season tickets is here:

• Michigan Panthers Season Tickets

Season ticket cost breakdown is about $20.00 per game.

Season ticket seating chart can be found here.

Panthers Shadow notes about the seating chart:

The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed there is no longer a VIP/Club section. There will not be a private concession area in 2025 like there was in 2023 and 2024.

##PARKING & TAILGATING INFO

All of the Panthers home games are played at Ford Field, 2000 Brush St, Detroit, MI. You can find info on parking here from the Ford Field website.

Parking facilities adjacent to Ford Field and Comerica Park are available during games and events on a first come, first serve basis.

Access to Ford Field parking facilities is generally four hours prior to kick-off. Vehicles will be directed into spaces and reserving spaces is not allowed. Tailgating and re-entry access is prohibited in parking facilities adjacent to Ford Field.

Ford Field gates will open one hour prior to kick-off on game days.

Those wishing to tailgate prior to the game should utilize the following options:

Eastern Market

Eastern Market, 2934 Russell St, Detroit, MI, is the place to be for Panthers tailgating. The market provides plenty of space to park and party. Shuttles run continuously between Ford Field and Eastern Market and tailgaters can also make the quick 10-minute walk across the bridge to the stadium. We recommend reading the Eastern Market tailgating guide if you plan to go on gameday. The guide is in reference to the Detroit Lions but the info still applies.

We also recommend fans check out the Detroit Lions gameday guide for more information on good spots to tailgate and meetup prior to kickoff.

Elwood Bar & Grill, located at 300 E Adams Ave, Detroit, MI (15-second walk from Ford Field) is another good option for fans. The Panthers have also previously hosted watch parties at this location.

##WHERE TO GET MERCH?

The official UFL store can be accessed here.

You can also find Michigan Panthers and other UFL merchandise sold at Dick's Sporting Goods. Their Panthers collection can be found here.

##INFO FOR NEWCOMERS

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

• The Den: This is what the Panthers call their fandom and home stadium.

• Team Slogan/Rally Cry: Officially, it's LET'S HUNT!. Panthers fan also started using PAW IS THE LAW! after defeating the St. Louis Battlehawks in week 1 of the 2024 UFL season (this is in response to the Battlehawks popular rally cry, "Kaw is the law").

• Rivals: Biggest rivals in order from most hated to least are the Birmingham Stallions, Memphis Showboats, and Houston Roughnecks. These are also the 3 teams in direct competition with the Roughnecks in the USFL conference. The Panthers have an outside conference rivalry with the St. Louis Battlehawks (XFL conference).

• Official Fight Song: The Panthers don't have an official fight song, but most fans use Walk by Pantera or Domination.

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 Michigan Panthers 2024 season, written by /u/MysteriousFeetInc. This is a good and informative recap of the season for anyone that missed it from the UFL community.

TLDR: Panthers finished the 2024 season in 2nd place in the USFL Conference with a record of 7-3, and lost against the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL Conference championship game.

##2024 UFL COLLEGE DRAFT

The Michigan Panthers picked 6th overall in each round of the UFL College Draft on July 17th, 2024. The following players were picked by the Michigan Panthers 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.

Panthers fan account Panthers Shadow also put together a Michigan Panthers roster tracker which you can check out here.

##UFL ALLOCATION PROCESS

For those unaware, the UFL has a process in place for any UFL team wanting to sign a free agent that has been cut from an NFL camp. With eight teams in the UFL, and 32 clubs in the NFL, each UFL franchise has “first rights” to cuts from four NFL teams.

To begin with, these rules only apply to players from the past three draft classes (‘22, ‘23, ‘24). Any free agent from the 2021 NFL draft class, or before, is open to sign with any UFL organization.

During the offseason, up until December 1st, UFL teams can only sign NFL cuts within the 22-24 draft classes from the four franchises allocated to them. After December 1st, every NFL cut is a free agent, allowed to sign wherever up until Training Camp.

The official NFL to UFL team breakdown is as follows:

• Arlington Renegades: Arizona, Cleveland, Dallas, Pittsburgh
• Birmingham Stallions: Atlanta, Carolina, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams
• DC Defenders: Baltimore, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Washington
• Houston Roughnecks: Cincinnati, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas
• Memphis Showboats: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay, Tennessee
• Michigan Panthers: Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota
• San Antonio Brahmas: Buffalo, New England, New York Giants, New York Jets
• St. Louis Battlehawks: Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle

Another important note: the three-year draft cap rolls over from season to season. So, next offseason, these rules will apply to players from the ‘23, ‘24’, and ‘25 NFL draft classes. Cuts from the 2022 NFL draft class will be free to sign anywhere, at any point.

For GMs that want to work around this, what we've seen so far is teams negotiating trades with each other to access players they want that are allocated to other UFL teams. For example, the Birmingham Stallions and Arlington Renegades traded DB Jayden Price (Atlanta) and DE Jeremiah Martin (Cleveland) in this 2024 offseason. Because Birmingham held Price’s rights, he was assigned to the Stallions – meaning he had to be traded to Arlington in order for the Renegades to add him to their roster.

In addition to the option to execute a trade, UFL GM’s have a couple of other options. They could wait until December 2nd, and hope that no one else signs the player they’re looking at.

Another option: if a player from Cleveland wants to sign to Michigan, and he knows the Panthers will offer him a contract, he can initiate what’s called a “10 day window”. This would then give Arlington 10 days to offer that player a contract. If they don’t, his rights are waived by the Renegades, and he would be free to sign with Michigan. This is in place, because the UFL is, at the end of the day, the “league of opportunity”. Blocking a player from a chance to sign with another UFL franchise for months wouldn’t make much sense.

##ANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Aside from the full schedule release, likely in December, 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 Mike Nolan has indicated he plans to return for the 2025 season but this has yet to be confirmed by the league. There is also the free agent draft (likely in January) and training camp in February.

##OTHER INFORMATION

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

We also encourage fans to join us on the Michigan Panthers Discord to discuss all things related to the team.

##OUTRO

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

LET'S HUNT!!!