Guardians won’t move forward after merger

Once again, spring football has come and gone in Orlando.

The United Football League, a byproduct of the recent merger between the USFL and XFL, revealed its eight franchises for the 2024 season and the Orlando Guardians were not part of the mix. A person with knowledge of the situation told the Sentinel that the decision means the end of the short-lived franchise.

Central Florida has had a rich but short history with spring football dating to the Florida Blazers (1974) and Orlando Thunder (199192) of the World Football League, the Orlando Renegades (1982-86) of the USFL, the Orlando Rage (2001) of the XFL and the Orlando Apollos (2018-19) of the Alliance of American Football.

The Guardians began as part of the rebooted XFL, acquired by a business group featuring Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Gerry Cardinale in 2021.

Orlando was 1-9 in its inaugural season, with the only win against the D.C. Defenders, 37-36, at Camping World Stadium on April 1. The team was coached by former Florida State and NFL standout Terrell Buckley.

Garcia, who lives in Orlando and was the chairwoman of the XFL, believed the league would be successful over time.

“Orlando is the biggest city in the country without an NFL team and is an absolutely fantastic market for us,” she told the Sentinel in April. “As we were compiling our data of where to place teams, it was very obvious that Orlando is a city where we need to be. And, plus, I live in Orlando, so it’s really important for me to be able to bring a successful professional football team to our city. We’re going to build the Orlando Guardians, and we are here to stay.”

The Guardians averaged approximately 12,000 fans during its only season, including its five home games. The team also averaged 607,000 viewers during its 10 broadcasts on ESPN, ABC and FX.

The new UFL league will feature eight teams divided into two conferences (USFL and XFL). The USFL teams are the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers. The XFL teams are Arlington (Texas) Renegades, D.C. Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks.

The league’s 10-game regular season kicks off March 30, with a showdown between the 2023 champions of the USFL (Stallions) and the XFL (Renegades).