UFL Championship Game FREE LIVE STREAM, Time, TV, Channel (6/16/24)

The Birmingham Gunners take on the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL Championship Game on Sunday, June 16, 2024 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Here’s what you need to know:

What the: UFL Championship Game

WHO: Birmingham Stallions vs. San Antonio Brahmas

When: Sunday, June 16, 2024

Where: America’s Center Dome

Time: 5 p.m. ET

TV: FOX

Channel search: Verizon Fios, Comcast Xfinity,Spectre/Charter, Optimum/Altice, Cox, DIRECTV, Plate,Hulu, fuboTV, Sling.

Live Stream: fuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial), Sling TV (50% off first month)

AP story:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Across the NFL, teams wrapped up their mandatory minicamps this week, leading to about a month off before the start of a grueling season that could approach seven months for teams participating in the Super Bowl.

The timeline of spring training followed by a break and then training camp has been a familiar one for years, interrupted only by a lockout in 2011 and a pandemic in 2020, but it could be about to change.

The NFLPA plans to propose a major change to that schedule, replacing spring practices with a longer training camp, which would provide a longer postseason break and a more gradual build-up to training camp in hopes of possibly reducing some injuries.

It’s a plan that hasn’t been met with widespread acceptance, with several players and coaches decrying the elimination of OTAs and minicamps in May and June.

“I think we need it,” Saints right tackle Foster Moreau said of the current offseason schedule. “You cook your steak in the offseason and then training camp is like a microwave period.

“You could go to training camp and microwave your steak for two minutes and we’ll see how much football you like to watch in the first four weeks.”

Colts center Ryan Kelly, the team’s player representative to the union, sees both sides of the issue, believing the time off breaks continuity, but starting training camp early could make the season too long.

“We throw, we do all these things and then we don’t see each other for two months,” Kelly said, referring to the current schedule. “So is this the best and most effective way to train and really get the most out of it? I think the counter argument is you add a month to the start of the season, it makes the season feel even longer when the league claims 18 (games) and we’re already playing 17. So I think some will come back. and on and on, and I don’t think there’s going to be a perfect solution.”

In the current offseason format, players can return to team facilities on a voluntary basis in mid-April. Teams with new head coaches are allowed to start the schedule two weeks early if they choose.

There’s a nine-week schedule that begins with two weeks of mostly meets and strength training, then three weeks of field work limited to individual drills and field trips, and finally four weeks of non-contact practices, including a mandatory minicamp for three days. usually in June.

Then, the NFL mostly shuts down until players return for the start of training camp in late July after a more than month-long break that allows vacations with families before the season starts and gives players a break and a chance to train. own or with informal groups.

The NFLPA is considering a new proposal that changes the entire approach, eliminating spring practice and having players return in either late June or early July for a ramp-up period leading up to training camp.

The thinking is that eliminating more than a month off would help reduce some of the soft tissue injuries that typically occur early in training camp.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, who has less than fond memories of the tedium of those extended training camps during his time as a boy for his father’s teams in the 1990s, said teams have already changed as often and as much he trains in the training camp. reduce injuries.

Shanahan also said that most players come back from the break in much better shape than in the past, and those who don’t are the most susceptible to injury early in camp.

“Also, I think anybody who doesn’t know how to train in their 40 days off, you’re not going to make much in this league anyway,” Shanahan said. “So it’s not too bad to remove five of those guys.”

Jets coach Robert Saleh sees the benefits of the schedule change in terms of player health and safety after seeing too many players injured early in camp after not practicing for 40 days.

But he worries about the lack of teaching time, especially for young players.

“I’m all for it as long as we’re able to maintain the work that needs to be done to continue to develop these young men the way they need to be developed,” he said.

Some coaches and players believe the change would be hardest for players joining new teams or teams installing new systems because the spring provides plenty of time to learn before training camp begins.

“Just like rookies, it’s kind of unfair to them,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said. “It’s going to be like starting them behind the 8 ball. For the guys who are moving teams, it’s going to be kind of unfair to them as well. But I think vets who really know how to take care of themselves and train in the offseason and don’t like messing with it, it wouldn’t matter too much to them.”

Jacobs coach Matt LaFleur saw this exact game four years ago when there was no offseason due to the COVID pandemic.

“I don’t think it was good for anybody,” he said. “It’s not often you get these guys in and cram it all in at the start of training camp, though. … I don’t think it would be good for the game, personally, but I don’t think they really care what I have to say.”

San Francisco tight end George Kittle said he’d better skip the spring program and start training camp early — with an important caveat.

“I just hope it doesn’t take away my Fourth of July,” he said, “because I really like celebrating the Fourth of July.”

Thank you for relying on us to deliver journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Cayden Steele can be reached at [email protected]