League News · 2026 Season

Opening Day 2026: Four Matches, Two One-Point Finishes, and a First-Ever Win

The 2026 season opened with four matches at the Miami International Fitness Expo on May 23, and three of them were undecided going into the final race. A new fan-voted ringer point swung one match, a coach’s challenge forced a rerun in another, and a franchise picked up the first win in its history.

Venom 19, Wild 16

The Atlanta Wild led or sat level for ten straight races before the Las Vegas Venom took their first lead of the match on the league’s new fan-voted ringer point, heavy clean and jerks chosen by the crowd, then closed out the Sprint Relay. Veteran experience won the day in the opener.

Full recaps: Wild · Venom

Bandits 19, Palms 18

The Houston Bandits had never won a Grid League match. It took a coach’s challenge that forced a rerun of the Sprint Relay, a bonus flag thrown before the race even started, and a super wild card who had not played in years, but the Bandits stole the finish from a South Beach Palms team that won seven races and led by four points late.

Full recaps: Palms · Bandits

Lions 23, Brigade 16

The Fort Lauderdale Lions won nine of twelve races in the day’s most lopsided result, and it still was not the biggest story on their side of the Grid: Janine Nicole got engaged before the match and unveiled a surprise jersey with her new name on the back. The Tampa Bay Brigade took both ringer duels, and rookie Nathan Tsuji nearly one-manned the handstand-walk Jack and Jill.

“The Lions are here, man. The Lions are ready to win a championship. I’m calling that early.” – Lions utility player Taylor Sturgis

Full recaps: Lions · Brigade

Sharks 18, Breakers 17

The defending champion SWFL Sharks closed the day by surviving the strangest stat line of the season so far: the Palm Beach Breakers swept all three ringer duels, benefited from a ladder review that zeroed the champs, and led with one race to go. The Sharks took the Sprint Relay behind the same pistol thrusters that won them last year’s championship, and a final Breakers challenge was reviewed and denied.

Full recap: Breakers

Standings After Week 1

Seeding goes by match record first. The small number is the Season Rank Total, the first tiebreaker: every race result is ranked against every other team’s result in the same match format across the season, ringer point races excluded, and lower is better. It is why the Palms sit second in the East despite their loss, and why the Sharks lead three 1-0 teams in the West. Top three seeds per conference make the playoffs.

Up Next

The league is back on the Grid for week two in Lakeland on Saturday, June 20. The expansion New York Wolves and Carolina Flight are still waiting to make their first appearance of the season.

Have a question? Email us at staff@unitedgridleague.com