The USFL announced that they are returning to Memphis with the Showboats, but the Houston Gamblers found out their new hub city will be based in Memphis for the 2023 season.
Executive VP of Football Operations Daryl Johnston announced Tuesday morning that the Gamblers and the Showboats will be based in Memphis this upcoming season. The league hopes this will start a new rivalry between the two teams. Both teams will be practicing and living in Memphis. They will play their games against each other and any other home games in the same area. Their home games will be played at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
“The USFL has come home to Memphis because fans here share our passion to celebrate football as much as we do. This is a game-changing homecoming with real economic impact. The City of Memphis will also host the Houston Gamblers during the 2023 season. The Gamblers and Showboats in Memphis together — sounds like we have a real rivalry brewing!”
Daryl Johnston, USFL Executive VP of Football Operations
Last season, the Gamblers and the other seven USFL teams lived and played their games in Birmingham, Alabama, for the regular season. The team finished the season with a 3-7 record and won their last two games of the season. Houston played the Memphis Showboats (previously Tampa Bay Bandits) twice last season, losing both contests 27-26 and 13-3.
This essentially means that the Gamblers will have more road games to deal with than most teams in the league this season. Even when they play the Showboats in Memphis, the reality is most of the fans that show up will be supporting the Showboats. Houston is over eight hours away from Memphis, so it will be tough to see Gamblers’ fans travel there unless there are Gamblers fans in Memphis.
It will make for a challenging season for Houston, but based on how they performed late last season, and they are on the right path to improvement this upcoming season.
JERRY Lee Sanchez
November 15, 2022 at 12:16 pm
Bring back the San Antonio Gunslingers and LA Express. Somebody in LA, maybe Magic Johnson could buy the Francise.
CPC
December 12, 2022 at 10:37 pm
Dumbest idea ever. How’s the city of Houston going support a team that played 2 seasons in a row outside Houston. Plain stupid. Looks like Roughnecks will be the king.
TDP
February 16, 2023 at 12:42 pm
I agree, how can you build a fan base if the fans cannot go and support their team. I’m not going to watch another season of empty stadium football, its like watching a high-school scrimmage…:(
Armyguy91
March 1, 2023 at 6:48 pm
The “Houston” Gamblers is a joke. How can you support a team when they’re not in the city? Houston got screwed again. I don’t know who was the mental giant who thought this one up.
If the Houston Roughnecks can get a stadium deal. I’m sure the Gamblers could’ve. If they really tried.
I’ll support the Roughnecks.
Ken Granito
March 3, 2023 at 9:37 pm
The USFL is only growing for the positive. Unfortunately the likes of New Jesey, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Houston do not have a home. Not to say they can’t pick up some fans at the hub they play in as the ticket prices are really affordable. So let’s hope they figure out what it is the league can afford. It seems as though the Roughnecks are going to get the leg up in Houston. They have a strong franchise amd a head start. If I were the USFL, I would still look to see if they could place a franchise their despite the thongs going against the league remaining in Houston. The pluses Houston is one of the 5 largest cities in America and has the tv marketshare Fox is looking for. Without LA, you need to get viewing audiences somewhere. The other really great thing about the Gamblers is their uniforms. Where the Roughnecks have the ugliest, the Gamblers might have the coolest uniforms across ALL football leagues. Other than playing in a city with another Spring team the other issue is the heat. The Gamblers would need to play their home games at night in June. Maybe it would be too bad to in late May. The old Gamblers had the Astrodome to keep everyone cool. The road for the Gamblers in Houston will be a tough one. I am rooting for them.