The United Football League started the second half of its second regular season this weekend, and I’d be lying if I told you I’m on top of everything that’s transpired.
I’m not – at least not to the point where I can throw a bunch of statistics at you and give you my All-Halfway Point UFL Team.
Since I decided last year to retire from actively covering sports, I no longer chart plays and jot down notes while I watch. I’ve comfortably shifted into “casual fan” mode, and one thing I’ve learned about being a casual fan is that I don’t always sit through an entire game. As I’ve gotten older, my attention span has gotten shorter.
Oh, I might go whistle-to-whistle if Celtic FC, Manchester United or Borussia Dortmund are in action, but that’s another kind of football entirely. And truth be told, I won’t be fully focused on tackle football again until the CFL starts preseason play later this month (if you’re down to clown with the three down game, Calgary meets BC on May 19).
That said, I certainly want the UFL to succeed, but I have no idea whether or not that’s a realistic possibility long-term. The fact that high-level minor league ball (USFL 2022-23, XFL 2023, and the USFL/XFL merger that created the UFL in 2024) is in its fourth consecutive season is certainly notable. More notable is that teams aren’t folding midseason and players aren’t missing paydays (at least as far as I know).
But there’s no denying that, aside from St. Louis, the UFL is hardly a success at the ticket office. Fans of the Battlehawks genuinely love their team, but support is both a middle finger to the NFL as well as an audition for any owner thinking about moving.
And of course, there’s the whole issue of the hybrid hub.
The UFL is based in Arlington, Texas, meaning the only true home team is the Arlington Renegades. The other seven clubs (Birmingham Stallions, DC Defenders, Houston Renegades, Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis) have to travel to their “home” games.
It’s a smart way to keep costs down, but it still makes teams visitors to their community instead of an actual part of it.
And remember, back in January the UFL made a big deal out of Arlington becoming its year-round football operations home.
According to a league news release, “ … the UFL HQ will encompass multiple facilities in central Arlington, which will serve as the football hub for all eight UFL teams. Beginning with training camps in March and continuing through practices during the 10-week regular season and two-week postseason, Arlington will host over 600 players, coaches, and staff gathering to meet, train, and practice.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean teams won’t eventually move to their home markets, but it sure looks like they’re putting down roots in Texas. When I reached out to a league official before the season and asked if they’d be based in Arlington for the foreseeable future, I was told yes.
(Then again, “foreseeable future” is open to interpretation. My foreseeable future extends only as far as lunch).
This year TV ratings are down from 2024, yet still hold up well when compared to the NHL and Major League Soccer. And ultimately, how many people watch on TV and mobile devices will make or break the UFL.
Thus, what if officials ultimately determine putting butts in the seats is a lost cause? Have other business models for the circuit been studied?
My Plan B would be to borrow from its predecessor, The Spring League. Clubs would be identified only by nicknames and play in one central location. If you went that route, the key would be to promote players and personalities and come up with the coolest logos and merch for a made-for-TV enterprise. You could argue that this would bring in more TV viewers since their rooting interest wouldn’t be tied to a city. And with no travel, expenses would be cut considerably.
Plan C is inspired by the early days of the Premiere Lacrosse League. Each weekend the league’s teams would travel to various locations in the United States and put on something of a football festival. With an eight-team lineup you could have doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. With 10 teams (remember, there are expansion plans for 2026), there’d be a single contest on Friday night to kick off the festival. The UFL might in be Orlando this weekend and Louisville the next.
One ticket or armband gets you access to all the games.
That would hardly be cheap for the UFL, though; the same number of players, coaches and support staff would still be flying to games and booking hotels.
Now, before you pelt me with rocks and rotten vegetables, Plan B and Plan C are strictly products of my imagination … I’m just thinking out loud. While attendance is underwhelming everywhere but the “Gateway to the West,” the fans who do show up want teams to represent them and their cities, and I get that. I’d like nothing better than for UFL personnel to work, live and train in their respective locales.
Still, you have to wonder if the novelty is starting to wear off. Fox, RedBird Capital, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson need to see a return on their investment, and right now the United Football League doesn’t look like a moneymaking venture despite the fact that it features good players and quality Triple A-level competition.
Obviously, it takes time for a fledgling sports venture to show whether or not it can turn a profit. How much time its stakeholders will give it, well … your guess is as good as mine.