UFL RULES CHANGES FOR 2025
The United Football League has revealed a handful of rules changes for the forthcoming 2025 season, which kicks off at the end of March.
As it strives to deliver a more exciting, fast-paced game, league officials have decided to tweak three key areas ahead of the new season, namely kickoffs, coaches challenges and onside kicks:
In a reversal of recent developments, the UFL will borrow from the NFL as it legislates a new kickoff formation, blending a combination of the kickoff rules used by the XFL Legacy league during its 2023 season and the NFL’s ‘Dynamic Kickoff’ introduced for the 2024 season, including:
● Kickoffs will now start from the 30-yard line after being at the 20-yard line last season.
● The 10 remaining players on the kickoff team will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. All kicking team players were at the 20-yard line, including the kicker, last season.
● The receiving team’s set-up zone will stretch from its 35-yard line to the 30-yard line and must have at least nine players in that zone. Last season, the receiving team had to have a minimum of eight players, but no more than nine, in their set up zone.
● The landing zone will be between the receiving team’s 20-yard line and its goal line.
● The ball must reach the landing zone, or it will be spotted at the 40-yard line.
● There will be two touchback spots: the 35-yard-line for balls kicked into the end zone and the 20-yard line for balls that hit in the landing zone and then enter the end zone. All touchbacks were placed at the 25-yard line last season.
The Head Coach’s Challenge, meanwhile, will be expanded in 2025, allowing each head coach to earn a second challenge if their first is successful. Challenges can be made on any officiating decision as long as the team has a timeout remaining.
Onside kicks receive the most drastic tweak of all by being scratched from the rulebook entirely. In their place, the team kicking off after a score will be able to retain possession of the ball with a fourth-and-12 play from its own 28-yard line.
As well as changes to the rulebook, the UFL has confirmed that several rules of note, particular to the league as it enters its second year of competition, will be retained:
● Teams will still have three scrimmage play options (run or pass) to go for one, two, or three points after a touchdown, starting from the two-, five- and ten-yard lines respectively. There will be no PAT kicks.
● Overtime will consist of alternating attempts to score from the opponent’s five-yard line with no kicks allowed. It will remain a best-of-three format until a winner has been determined.
● A double forward pass on a single play from behind the line of scrimmage will remain legal. In these situations, the ball cannot cross the line of scrimmage at any time prior to the second forward pass being thrown.
The 2025 UFL season kicks off on Friday 28th March with the St. Louis Battlehawks taking on the Houston Roughnecks as FOX Sports debuts FOX UFL Friday – a new night dedicated to UFL action taking place each Friday during the 10-week regular season. The season will conclude on Saturday 14th June when ABC presents the 2025 UFL Championship Game.