ORLANDO, Fla. (June 1, 2026) – The United Football League announced today that the playoff game between the Orlando Storm and DC Defenders on Sunday, June 7, will now be played in Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida after previously announcing plans to move the game to a neutral-site venue in Columbus, Ohio. Kickoff will be at 3 p.m. ET and also air nationally on ABC. Finding a new venue for the game was necessary based upon the unavailability of Inter&Co Stadium due to prior commitments connected to hosting an international soccer match.
The UFL conducted an extensive search and evaluation of viable options inclusive of UCF’s Acrisure Bounce House stadium, Camping World Stadium, IMG Academy, Wide World of Sports, and had conversations with Daytona Stadium and many others throughout the year. All of which were either unavailable, under renovation, or unable to meet the operational, broadcast, and game-day requirements necessary to host a playoff event.
Since the announcement to play the game in Columbus, the league continued to work on options in Florida, including Daytona Stadium. A group consisting of officials from the UFL, Bethune-Cookman University, the City of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Police, ESPN, Ticketmaster, and concession partners, worked throughout the weekend including site visits to the venue and were able to collectively create a plan for the game to be played in Daytona.
"As we said from the beginning, our preference was always to keep this game as close to our Orlando fanbase as possible," said UFL President and CEO Russ Brandon. "When we announced Columbus, we did so to ensure we had a venue confirmed to be able to play the game after exhausting every viable option in the market to that point. Since then, a potential opportunity we had looked into further surfaced in Daytona Beach that warranted immediate onsite evaluation over the weekend. Once we determined the venue had the ability to work with the collective stakeholders on an expedited timeline, we felt it was important to pivot and bring this game back to Central Florida. We can’t thank the collective partners enough for working with us on this solution."
The league also expressed its appreciation to the Columbus community, Historic Crew Stadium, and local partners who worked collaboratively to prepare for hosting the playoff game.
For Orlando Storm fans, the move represents an opportunity to experience playoff football much closer to home.
"Our fans have been the driving force behind this inaugural season, and we know how important it is for them to be part of this playoff run," Brandon said. "Keeping postseason football in Central Florida is the outcome we worked tirelessly to achieve. We are incredibly thankful for their passion, honesty, and we apologize for the ups and downs they have felt through this process. We appreciate their patience and understanding as we navigated a complex and rapidly evolving situation."
Tickets are general admission and can be purchased here for $10. Tickets for our most loyal fans, Season Ticket Members, will be complimentary. Additionally, fan friendly concessions will be available as well as a playoff t-shirt giveaway for the first 5,000 fans.
Previously purchased tickets for the game that was set to take place in Columbus will be automatically refunded based on where the tickets were purchased. Refunds could take up 7-10 business days to process.