Hello and welcome to the Rig. 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 HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS?

You can reference the wikipedia article here for a history of the Houston Roughnecks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Roughnecks_(2024)

TLDR: The Houston Roughnecks were established in 2020 as part of the revived XFL. The Roughnecks were the only undefeated team in the league prior to the Covid shutdown. The team returned for the 2023 XFL season, winning 1st place in the XFL South Division but losing in the Divisional Championship to the Arlington Renegades. The team was then merged with the USFL Houston Gamblers and carried over into the new United Football League (UFL) for the 2024 season as one of 4 teams in the USFL 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 Houston Roughnecks. 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
• Memphis Showboats
• Michigan Panthers
• St. Louis Battlehawks

AWAY

• Arlington Renegades
• Birmingham Stallions
• Memphis Showboats
• Michigan Panthers
• San Antonio Brahmas

All Roughnecks home games are confirmed to be played in TDECU 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 Roughnecks 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.

Houston Roughnecks 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 invites to purchase parking

• Priority access to team events (meet & greets, town halls, chalk talks, press conferences, virtual autograph sessions, and more)

• Priority access to game day experiences

• NEW Exclusive preseason ticket member event

• NEW Premier and dedicated season ticket member stadium access

• NEW Exclusive insider information (monthly e-newsletter, quarterly Zoom meeting)

The renewal date for season ticket members starts September 17. Season ticket sales for the general public start October 15.

Direct link to purchase season tickets is here:

• Houston Roughnecks Season Tickets

Season ticket cost breakdown is about $20.00 per game.

You can view the seating and pricing map here.

##PARKING & TAILGATING INFO

All of the Roughnecks home games are played at TDECU, 3700 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX. You can find info on parking here from the TDECU Stadium website.

Visitors coming to campus to attend a Houston Roughnecks UFL game at TDECU Stadium have various locations in which they can pay to park. Please refer to this parking map for pricing and parking locations. Game day parking opens four (4) hours prior to kickoff.

Those wishing to tailgate prior to the game should utilize the parking highlighted in green on the map. Do NOT park in any of the lots that are not highlighted on the UFL parking map. Stadium tailgating policies can be found here.

Houston Roughneck individual game presale parking can be purchased here.

##WHERE TO GET MERCH?

The official UFL store can be accessed here.

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

##INFO FOR NEWCOMERS

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

• The Motormen: This is what the Roughnecks call their fans (also referred to as Roughnecks Nation).

• The Rig: This is what the Roughnecks call their home stadium.

• Team Slogan/Rally Cry: Officially, it's DRILL, BABY, DRILL! The Motormen also use, "PROTECT THE RIG!" and "ROUGH'EM UP!".

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

• Official Fight Song: Down in H-Town

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 Houston Roughnecks 2024 season, written by /u/Dismal_Money_2697. This is a good and informative recap of the season for anyone that missed it from the UFL community.

TLDR: Roughnecks had a mostly down season in 2024, finished last in the USFL Conference.

##2024 UFL COLLEGE DRAFT

The Houston Roughnecks picked 2nd overall in each round of the UFL College Draft on July 17th, 2024. The following players were picked by the Houston Roughnecks 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, 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 CJ Johnson 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.

##OUTRO

We hope to see all of you at TDECU for the Roughnecks home games in the 2025 season.

DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! PROTECT THE RIG!!! ROUGH'EM UP!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWz23M3wONg

CW39 Houston Roughnecks meet new team members from Texas