The 2018 LFL US Season is the ninth season of the

Legends Football League The Extreme Football League (X League) is an American women's semi-professional tackle football league. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and later rebranded as the Legends Football League in 2013. ...

(LFL) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It began on 14 April 2018, and ended on 11 August.“LFL 2018 Schedule.pdf”
. ''LFLUS.com''. Retrieved 2017-12-14. The

Chicago Bliss The Chicago Bliss is a women's American football team based in the Chicago area. The Bliss is one for the first four teams to participate in the Lingerie Bowl and was carried over to the formation of the Lingerie Football League (LFL) in 2009. S ...

beat the

Austin Acoustic The Austin Acoustic is a women's American football team based in Austin, Texas. The Acoustic is a member of the Legends Football League (LFL) with home games at H-E-B Center in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas. Prior to the 2020 season, the ...

28–20 in the Legends Cup to win their fourth title, finishing with a perfect 6–0 season.

Developments

In November 2017, it was announced that the Nashville Knights would join the LFL, and begin its inaugural season in the league for the 2018 season, with former Seattle Mist tight end

Danika Brace Danika Brace Johnson was an American football coach and player. She served as the coach and general manager of the Nashville Knights franchise of the Legends Football League (LFL) for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Brace became the first coach of the ...

named as the Knights’ head coach.“Historic Announcements as Nashville Knights Unveiled and First Ever Female Coach Hired”
. LFL360.COM. November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017. The

Pittsburgh Rebellion The Pittsburgh Rebellion was a women's American football team based in Pittsburgh and a member of the Legends Football League (LFL). History The franchise was announced as the twenty-first franchise in the Legends Football League (LFL) in late 2 ...

did not compete in the 2018 season while they conducted a search for a new home venue. They were expected to rejoin the LFL in 2019 but did not. Nashville's recruitment also resulted in a rule change concerning free agency. Nashville recruited seven of the starters from defending champion Seattle, essentially transplanting the Mist's lineup to a new team nearly intact. This move prompted the league to institute a rule only allowing five free agents per team. As a result of this rule change, Nashville was forced to turn away two of their free agency recruits who returned to Seattle. Nashville courted further controversy when Seattle's former coach, who had retired in the off-season, reappeared as the offensive coordinator of the Knights. The LFL partnered with Planet Sport to broadcast LFL games in eastern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The partnership allows Planet Sport to broadcast LFL games and ancillary programming from July 2018 through August 2021. In January 2018, the LFL announced individual and/or group ownership of existing and future franchises beginning with the 2018 season, continuing to build out the LFL US league, while also developing planned strategies for the revivals of

LFL Canada The Extreme Football League (X League) is an American women's semi-professional tackle football league. The league was originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League (LFL), and later rebranded as the Legends Football League in 2013. ...

and LFL Australia, as well as to start a new European league in the future."LFL Prepares to Bring on Team Ownership Groups in 2018, Growth into 33 US Markets"
. ''LFL360.com''. January 30, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018. The 2018 season also saw a major uniform change. The players' uniforms now featured leggings instead of shorts. While the league, players, and many fans saw this as a good change there was a vocal segment of the fan base, as well as a group of players, that objected to the leggings. As a result of the outcry, the LFL changed to shorts, consisting of the same patterns as the pants and 2-3 inches longer than the original bikini brief, for the remainder of the season.

Teams

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Schedule

Playoffs

Standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

x - clinched conference title
y - clinched playoff berth

Playoffs

Conference Championships were played on August 25, 2018 at Toyota Park in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of

Bridgeview Bridgeview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 17,027. History The earliest settlement in Bridgeview occurred in the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The season concluded with the Legends Cup, played on September 8, 2018, at the

H-E-B Center H-E-B Center at Cedar Park is an indoor arena located in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin. Originally named the Cedar Park Center, the arena is home to the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League. T ...

Cedar Park, Texas Cedar Park is a city and a major suburb of Austin in the state of Texas, approximately to the north-west of the center of Austin. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 77,595. History Before the arrival of European settl ...

. The Los Angeles Temptation were the first team in LFL history to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record but only if the 2016 Atlanta team is considered to have finished 2-2 courtesy of a New England forfeit instead of the 1-2-1 record that a lack of a contest would create. In their first playoff appearance, the

defeated Los Angeles 32-30 to advance to their first Legends Cup. Hours later, the

defeated the Nashville Knights 18-6 to secure their sixth trip to the Legends Cup. The Legends Cup featured Chicago as heavy favorites. The Bliss scored twice in the second quarter and led 12-0 at the half. Austin scored in the third quarter to cut the lead to 12-8 before Chicago added two more scores to extend their lead to 28-8. As the game wound down, Austin rallied with two touchdowns of their own leaving the final score 28-20. With the win, Chicago became the first team in the LFL to win forty games (a cumulative 40-10-1 record) and four championships (2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018). Chicago running back Javell Thompson, who scored three of the Bliss' four touchdowns, was named MVP of the Legends Cup.

References

External links

Legends Football League official site
{{Legends Football League Legends Football League 2018 in American football