2023 USFL Championship Game
The 2023 USFL Championship Game was an American football game that was played on July 1, 2023, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The contest determined the champion of the 2023 USFL season and was played between the Pittsburgh Maulers and the Birmingham Stallions, eventually crowning Birmingham the champion of the league for the second year in a row.
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | July 1, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kickoff time | 8:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Deon Cain, Birmingham | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Birmingham by 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Larry Smith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | |||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Dylan Scott | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC & Peacock | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jac Collinsworth (play-by-play), Jason Garrett (analyst), and Zora Stephenson (sideline reporter) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 0.7 (1.157 million viewers) (NBC) (1.2 million viewers) (Peacock) | ||||||||||||||||||
The game featured the number one defense in the league in Pittsburgh facing off against the number one offense in the league in Birmingham. After going up 3–0, the Maulers would fall after Alex McGough threw touchdown passes to Davion Davis and Deon Cain, the eventual MVP, and would never lead again. The Maulers would add additional field goals, though their continued lack of success on the offensive side of the ball would ultimately be the reason they lost the game. The Stallions eventually won the game 28-12 to repeat as USFL Champions.