One of the hallmarks of the United Football League is to serve as a training ground for rule changes that the NFL might consider. But the UFL game between the Orlando Storm and Louisville Kings produced an obscure, bizarre ruling that probably should have stayed on the drawing board.
Orlando and Louisville were locked in a two-point shootout to decide the game after the game ended in a 27-27 tie in regulation, a UFL quirk.
As Orlando had the ball in overtime for their conversion attempt, Louisville committed two defensive penalties. After the second penalty, Fox Sports rules analyst and UFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino could be heard consulting with the officials on the field. Viewers at home were probably surprised to hear the result – the game was over and Orlando would be awarded with the victory.
Fox NFL Sunday host and play-by-play announcer Curt Menefee seemed as surprised as everyone at home after learning that the game could end on a penalty in such a strange manner.
ORLANDO WINS IT ON A PENALTY IN OVERTIME ‼️
Dean Blandino is in the Command Center with more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IoorGOuY04
— United Football League (@TheUFL) April 11, 2026
Blandino explained that the rule is in place to discourage teams from committing penalty after penalty in the overtime period to prevent the opposition from scoring and to end the game in a timely fashion.
“We wanted to make sure we had a winner and we got the game over with. We didn’t fouls to continue… we didn’t want the team to continue to foul to prevent scores, so the second live ball foul by the same team during overtime results in a good try. And that’s the rule,” Blandino said.
After being asked to confirm the situation by Menefee, Blandino said that it’s not a new UFL rule, even though it was the first time fans had seen the rule in action.
“To get the game over with at some point, how many tries are we going to go. You think about player safety and extra snaps, we’ve already been playing over three hours. So when we put that rule in, and this has been the rule really the last three years, the second live ball foul during overtime by the same team results in a successful try,” Blandino added.
As for the player safety issue and game ending in a timely fashion, that’s the point of the two point shootout, is it not? College football has tried something similar in recent years and aside from the infamous Illinois-Penn State game that went 9 overtime periods, it usually ends the game pretty quickly. And the practicality of teams committing penalty after penalty to prevent scoring plays sounds good in theory but is something that we’ve never really seen in a professional football game.
The UFL is experimenting with several high-profile rule changes this season including the use of four-point field goals. But ending a game on a penalty with points being awarded to a team on a defensive holding call is one of the most anticlimactic endings you could ever have in a football game. You could imagine the confusion of the fans in attendance and at home given that they’ve never seen a football game end in such a manner.