What to know about USFL title game: WWE star Big E, Dylan Scott, pyrotechnics, T-shirts

CANTON − The USFL championship game will be packed with both entertainment pizazz and football action.

Professional wrestling star Big E will be in attendance. Country music chart topper Dylan Scott will perform prior to the game. T-shirts will be given away. And pyrotechnics will celebrate the league's new top dog.

The Pittsburgh Maulers (4-6) and Birmingham Stallions (8-2) will face off at 8 p.m. Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at the Hall of Fame Village in Canton.

This is the second consecutive summer that Tom Benson has hosted the USFL title game. Birmingham defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 to claim the 2022 championship.

Saturday's game will be televised on NBC and Peacock.

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And here's what fans should know about the game.

How much do tickets and parking cost?

Tickets, starting at $25, can be purchased at https://www.theusfl.com/.

Admission to the game also includes Scott's 6 p.m. concert. Gates to the game will open at 7 p.m.

The concert will be in front of Don Shula's American Kitchen, adjacent to the stadium, in the Fan Engagement Zone.

Scott urged football and music fans to come out to Saturday's event.

"I would just say, look, on a Saturday for $25, you're going to get a football game and a concert," he said. "Usually, my concert tickets are $25, $30, $35 ... (and) here you are getting a football game. That's pretty cool."

Parking costs $15 (cash only) in multiple lots at the Hall of Fame Village, an entertainment campus that also includes The Brew Kettle craft brewery and eatery and surrounds the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Play-Action Plaza features a football-themed zip line ride, as well as the "Red Zone" Ferris wheel.

What can fans expect at the country concert?

Scott has scored hit singles with “My Girl” and “Hooked.” Nominated for Best New Country Artist at the all-genre iHeartRadio Music Awards, Scott's popular song "Nobody" earned him a 2021 CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year.

"Usually, in an hour ... if we really just bust it, we can usually get through 12 or 13 songs," he said during a phone interview Thursday. "I love interacting with the crowd, and you never know where I will go with talking with a fan or getting off stage.

"As far as covers go, we do throwback '90s country, and we can throw in some early 2000s rock covers. Even that just happens on the fly. ... I don't usually like to plan too much ahead on what we're going to do. I'm more a in that moment kind of guy."

There's nothing like performing live, Scott said.

"The guys and the girls coming to see me play, if they just wanted to listen to my music, they can listen to it on a radio station or they can put it on their streaming service," he said. "So I try to give them something a little different, and then when they leave, they say, 'That was fun!'"

Dylan Scott will also sing national anthem

Besides the concert, Scott also will sing the national anthem on the field before the game.

"I've sang the national anthem many times over my career, and ... I don't get nervous to perform really ever," Scott said. "I get excited to perform ... but there's plenty of times that I've gotten nervous to sing the national anthem.

"It's one of those deals where you don't want to mess the national anthem up because of what it represents and what it means.

"I keep it simple, I keep it for what it is," Scott added. "It's not about me as an artist or a showman; it's just, this is the national anthem, this is what it represents for our country."

What will WWE star Big E be doing at the game?

Former WWE champion Big E will be on hand to get the crowd pumped up.

Big E, whose real name is Ettore Ewen, will serve as gameday host at the USFL championship and will entertain fans throughout the game, said Jim Houck, public relations director with the USFL's marketing firm.

In 2021, after winning the Money in the Bank ladder match, he cashed in his Money in The Bank contract on Bobby Lashley to become the WWE champion.

Nicknamed the "Powerhouse of Positivity," Big E retained the title for about three months before losing it to Brock Lesnar at the Day 1 event on New Year's Day 2022. Big E also won multiple tag team titles as a member of The New Day.

Big E, also a two-time intercontinental champion, has not been active in the ring since March 2022 when he injured his neck in an episode of SmackDown, according to the sports news website Bleacher Report.

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Will there be any freebies and championship game merch?

Attendees will receive a free championship T-shirt while supplies last.

USFL title game merchandise, along with team shirts and hats, also will be for sale at the stadium.

What happens at halftime?

The league will introduce winners of its two top individual awards − MVP and Sportsman of the Year (for impactful community service).

What else is there to do at the game?

A "Fun Zone" accessible to fans will be open in the east end zone throughout the game, featuring inflatables, oversized cornhole, ball toss, and a prize wheel.

So how will the USFL crown its 2023 champion?

Immediately following the game, there will be a trophy presentation with pyrotechnics and confetti celebrating the winning team and recognizing the game's MVP.

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

On Twitter @ebalintREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: USFL championship game in Canton features Big E and Dylan Scott