The UFL has announced its new champion. The D.C. Defenders won the 2025 UFL Championship over the Michigan Panthers in St. Louis on Saturday night, scoring 58-34. This was the highest number of points scored by any team in the two seasons of UFL play.
In the game’s early stages, the lead alternated between the teams, with the Panthers ahead 6-0 and 13-6 during the first half. By halftime, D.C. had established a 37-19 lead.
A touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter expanded D.C.’s lead to 52-19. Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu completed 21 of 28 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns while contributing 28 rushing yards and one touchdown.
According to Mike Mitchell, 14,559 people attended the game. While this is a good figure by UFL standards, it is significantly lower than the attendance for the 2024 UFL championship game in St. Louis between Birmingham and San Antonio, which attracted 27,396 spectators.
Betting On 2026 UFL Odds
Unlike other popular football leagues, UFL futures are not available year-round. The NFL and NCAA have future odds available during the offseason for next year, but that is not the case for the UFL. However, before the season starts, you can find conference odds for betting on the XFL and USFL.
While futures offer great value to bettors, most of the action is placed on the game lines as they offer three ways to bet on team competitions with the money line, totals, and spread odds.
While the offseason has been volatile for UFL teams, with several players often getting promoted to the NFL and others not returning for various reasons, next year could be vastly different for any team.
2026 UFL Season Predictions
While much is still unknown about the third season of the UFL, there are rumors that the league is looking to expand. Possible expansion cities include Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Canton, Tulsa, and Columbus. Possible returning teams include the Seattle Sea Dragons and the New York Generals. While nothing is confirmed, seeing the league extend its reach would be great.
There have also been talks about extending the season to 12 games instead of the current 10-game regular season.