USFL weather updates: Rain, lightning delay start of Panthers vs. Gamblers – Sporting News

The USFL's first day went off without a hitch, asthe 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.

MORE: Sporting News follows Sunday's Week 1 USFL action

(All time Eastern.)

12:52 p.m. The national anthem is being performed and the game will kickoff shortly thereafter. That will bring to an end this weather delay.

12:40 p.m. There is still light rain falling in Birmingham, but it appears that the thunderstorms have subsided... for now. According to Weather.com, it should be cloudy for the next five hours in Birmingham, but there is a chance of thunderstorms again beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

12:35 p.m. The players have officially taken the field for warm-ups. The NBC broadcast says that the game should start in about 20 minutes, so we're looking at a potential 12:55 p.m. ET start time.

12:29 p.m. The NBC broadcast just announced that the players for each team would be taking the field "momentarily." They will need about 15-20 minutes to warm up, and after that, the game should be just about ready to begin. When adding in the pre-game ceremonies (National Anthem, etc.) it looks like we're heading for a start at just about 1 p.m. ET.

12:26 p.m. The Gamblers and Panthers social media teams are having a good time during the rain delay. They challenged one another to an online game of Connect Four, which Houston ended up winning.

12:24 p.m. Jac Collinsworth announces that the players are expected to take the field in 10 minutes or so. That should give the game a chance to start at or just before 1 p.m. ET.

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.

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.

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.

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USFL weather updates: Rain, lightning delay start of Panthers vs. Gamblers - Sporting News