2025 UFL Championship Betting Picture

If you have been craving football and were not aware, this weekend could be like Christmas all over again for you. Of course, we have the NCAA tournament in full swing with Sweet 16 games this weekend, but there is also football on the schedule. Yes, the UFL is back in 2025 for its second season.

The new season of the United Football League begins this Friday night, March 28, when the St. Louis Battlehawks travel to Houston to visit the Roughnecks. There is an afternoon game on Saturday and two more on Sunday. It’s perfect timing for the diehard football fan. The NFL Combine ended at the beginning of March and we’ve got another month until the NFL draft. Cue the UFL.

Let’s take a look at the schedule, the UFL championship odds, and your best bets this season.

2025 UFL Schedule

The second season of the UFL will feature a format exactly like that of 2024. The regular season will be 10 weeks long. Each team will play the other three teams in their division twice in a home-and-home series. That’s six games. 

Each team will then cross over to play each of the other four teams in the other division. That’s a total of 10 games. Once the regular season has ended, the top two teams in each division will meet in the first round of the playoffs. The winners will play each other the following weekend for the UFL championship. Here is a breakdown of the 2025 UFL schedule dates.

• Regular season: March 28 – June 1
• Playoffs June 8 – June 14
• Semifinals June 8
• Championship June 14

2025 UFL Championship Odds

Here are the latest UFL Championship odds as we head into Week 1 of the 2025 season.

UFL Championship Odds

as listed at top sportsbooks

Birmingham Stallions +175

St. Louis Battlehawks +300

DC Defenders +550

San Antonio Brahmas +550

Michigan Panthers +650

Arlington Renegades +1000

Houston Roughnecks +1800

Memphis Showboats +2000

Favorites to Win 2025 UFL Championship

It’s no secret. Birmingham is the clear favorite at +175 to win a second straight UFL championship. The Stallions have won four straight spring football league titles. Head coach Skip Holtz guided Birmingham to USFL championships in 2022 and 2023 and then last year’s UFL title. 

Holtz’s staff remains mostly intact. It’s a veteran staff that has coached in the spring before. The roster has some changes, most notably at quarterback. Last year, Adrian Martinez actually led the UFL in rushing with 528 yards despite starting just seven of the ten regular season games. 

Martinez won’t return in 2025, but the Stallions still have Matt Corral and veteran Alex McGough, the 2023 USFL MVP. McGough spent last season with Green Bay in the NFL transitioning to wide receiver. He’ll play quarterback again in Birmingham. 

It’s not all about offense for the Stallions. The defense is one of the best in the league. Birmingham allowed just 18 points per game last season, the fewest in the USFL Division. Returning from that defense is LB DeMarquis Gates. This is the same defense that shut out San Antonio in the 2024 UFL championship game.

The only other team given better than +500 odds to win the 2025 UFL title is St. Louis. The Battlehawks will have a number of new faces as well. AJ McCarron led a St. Louis offense that was the best in the XFL Division. The Battlehawks averaged 26 points per game. McCarron will not return in 2025.

Max Duggan, who started in the 2022-23 College Football Playoff national championship game for TCU, is the likely QB1 for the Battlehawks. They’ve also got Chevan Cordeiro and Manny Wilkins on the roster. Regardless of who starts, they will have 2024 UFL Offensive Player of the Year Hakeem Butler to throw to. St. Louis is given +300 odds to win this year’s title.

2025 UFL Value Bet – DC

Last season was a disappointment for the DC Defenders. They would end up 4-6 and finish third in the XFL Division behind first place St. Louis and second place San Antonio. Heading into last season, Defenders QB Jordan Ta’amu was one of the favorites to win the league’s MVP award. Unfortunately, DC suffered some key injuries on offense that prevented them from having a great season.

Ta’amu still had a productive year. He threw for 1,846 yards, which was second in the league. He added 15 touchdown passes, but he really didn’t have many dynamic playmakers around him. That will change in 2025. 

DC added Lynn Bowden, a former quarterback, running back and wide receiver at Kentucky who has played in the NFL with Miami and New Orleans. Bowden is the element that Ta’amu was missing in the DC offense. The Defenders offense is why they have some value at +550 to win the 2025 UFL crown.

2025 UFL Longshot Bet – Michigan

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t seem like +650 is that big of a longshot. However, the Michigan Panthers are fifth on the board among the eight teams in the UFL. How a team like Michigan sits at No. 5 on this betting board is a great question.

The Panthers went 7-3 last season. They had one of the UFL’s best defenses. They ranked second in the USFL Division and third overall, allowing 18.9 points per game. The offense was good enough, averaging 22.8 points per game, to propel the Panthers to the playoffs. 

In 2025, Michigan returns its entire coaching staff intact. Head coach Mike Nolan brings back the same staff from 2024. That type of continuity is how champions are built. On top of that, the Panthers return 68 percent of their 2024 roster. That includes starting QB Danny Etling as well as the 2024 UFL Defensive Player of the Year Breeland Speaks.  That’s why a small wager on the Michigan Panthers to win the 2025 UFL championship makes sense.