USFL weather updates: Rain, lightning delay start of Panthers vs. Gamblers
The USFL’s first day went off without a hitch, as the Birmingham Stallions defeated the New Jersey Generals in a come-from-behind victory that gave the home team the first win of the new USFL’s inaugural season.
Things are getting a bit more complicated on the second day of the season. The game featuring the Michigan Panthers and Houston Gamblers has been delayed due to lightning in the Birmingham area.
The Panthers vs. Gamblers game was initially slated to kick off at 12 p.m. ET. Now, it will start later, and it’s unclear whether that will have an impact on the other two USFL games airing on Sunday: the New Orleans Breakers vs. Philadelphia Stars and Tampa Bay Bandits vs. Pittsburgh Maulers.
Sporting News is tracking the latest USFL weather updates from Birmingham and how it might impact the league’s first tripleheader of the 2022 season.
USFL Week 2 weather updates
(All time Eastern.)
12:05 p.m. — The NBC broadcast interviewed Panthers coach Jeff Fisher as well as Gamblers coach Kevin Sumlin. Both brushed off the delay with an “it-is-what-it-is” type of mentality.
Fisher also shared a story of one of the longest weather delays he dealt with during his time with the Rams. That occurred when the last two minutes of Los Angeles’ game against the Buccaneers was delayed nearly two and a half hours by lightning.
12:03 p.m. — The USFL officially announced that the Panthers vs. Gamblers game was in a delay on social media. They shared a picture of the rain-soaked field in doing so, but once again, had no update about when the game might start.
Houston Gamblers vs Michigan Panthers is currently in weather delay pic.twitter.com/EglpQZn72m
— USFL (@USFL) April 17, 2022
12 p.m. — The broadcast of the USFL’s game featuring the Michigan Panthers and Houston Gamblers opened with an announcement from NBC’s Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett that the game is in a weather delay. It was not immediately clear how long the delay would last.
What time are the USFL games today?
Below is the full schedule of USFL games for Sunday, April 17. The first game was originally scheduled to kick off at noon ET before the weather delay while the last will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
All games will be available to watch on the Fox and NBC family of networks. You can also stream the contests with fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
Game | Time (ET) | TV channel |
Houston Gamblers vs. Michigan Panthers | Noon | NBC, Peacock, fuboTV |
Philadelphia Stars vs. New Orleans Breakers | 4 p.m. | USA, fuboTV |
Tampa Bay Bandits vs. Pittsburgh Maulers | 8 p.m. | FS1, fuboTV |