Category: Alternative Football

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.

Although the fledgling Continental Football League didn’t play its first regular season game until August 14, 1965, the COFL saw a flurry of activity in late April of that year.

Between April 27 and April 28, the Rhode Island Indians named Mickey Connolly its head coach; Babe Dimancheff took the same job with the Philadelphia Bulldogs; and Continental League president Happy Chandler (former commissioner of Major League Baseball) was about to embark on a tour of the circuit’s franchises.

However, it was a battle between the COFL’s Hartford Charter Oaks and Holyoke Bombers of the Atlantic Coast Football League that made minor league football a major news story during baseball season.

First, some background.

The flagship franchises of the Continental League were the Charleston Rockets, Fort Wayne Warriors, Hartford, Newark Bears, Norfolk Neptunes, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, Richmond Rebels, Toronto Rifles and Wheeling Ironmen.

Hartford, Newark, Norfolk (originally the Springville Acorns before moving to Virginia) and Richmond broke away from the ACFL (formed in 1962) to join the COFL, while Wheeling and Charleston became members after the United Football League folded. Toronto, Philly and Ft. Wayne were relocated from their previous UFL cities (Montreal, Canton and Indianapolis, respectively).

Rhode Island was the only “new” team.

The 1965 ACFL lineup featured the Boston Steamrollers, Harrisburg Capitols, Holyoke, Jersey Jets, Mohawk Valley Falcons, New Bedford Sweepers, Pittsburgh Valley Ironmen and Scranton Miners.

Mike Mosolf, a 6-1 quarterback, had spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Warriors (during their UFL days) and Canadian Football League Ottawa Rough Riders before starring with Hartford in 1964.

During the Charter Oaks’ farewell season in the ACFL, he passed for 976 yards, 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for 312 yards in leading Hartford to an 8-6-1 record. He was also an outstanding punter.

The Charter Oaks expected the 25-year-old to be their field general again as the club switched leagues in 1965, but on April 27, Holyoke owner Socco Babacas announced Mosolf had signed with the Bombers.

This news blindsided Don Brewer, general manager of the Hartford side.

“We’re truly disappointed,” Brewer told the Hartford Courant. “Actually, we’re shocked over Mike’s decision. We were completely unaware of Mike’s decision to play with Holyoke. We felt we had treated him as fairly as possible.

“We feel that Mike has a moral and legal obligation toward the Oaks and we have turned the situation over to our lawyers. He signed with us legally. He agreed with our first contract when we were still a member of the ACFL and later signed a second contract when we officially joined the Continental League.”

Holyoke was given draft rights over Hartford players when the Charter Oaks withdrew from their old league. And Babacas said the bylaws of the ACFL state that the contracts of players in that league still belong to the league if a club resigns.

“I’m in the right,” Babacas said in an interview with the Courant on May 3, 1965. “I’m not worried about being right or wrong. I talked to (NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle) and he says I have nothing to worry about.”

T. Owen Eagen, attorney for the Hartford group, disagreed.

“In resigning from the league voluntarily,” he said, “the Charter Oaks took proper legal steps to protect their players. I feel sorry for (Mosolf). He messed himself up signing all these contracts. You can’t force anybody to play for you, but you can prevent him from playing for someone else. This is not out of a spirit of vindictiveness, but we must make them honor contracts.”

The Continental League certainly didn’t want one of its first major news flashes to come from a courtroom, but it happened. On May 20, Judge Francis J. Quirico issued a temporary injunction ordering Mosolf to play for the Charter Oaks. The Patriot-News reported that in Mosolf’s testimony he said that he considered the Hartford contract “ineffective” because the franchise didn’t complete it by entering the amount he was to be paid for each game.

A hearing on the merits of the case was slated for July 26 – less than three weeks from the start of the COFL season – but on July 22, Mosolf agreed to terms with the Charter Oaks and the legal part of the saga effectively ended.

“He advised us that he would like to rejoin the Charter Oaks for the 1965 season,” Brewer said. “He feels that his decision to sign with another club was ill-advised, and he has expressed to us his regrets for the problems the actions have caused the personnel of this ballclub.”

Turns out, there were no happy endings for either team – or the quarterback they both wanted.

The Charter Oaks finished 2-12 and last in the COFL West.

Mosolf’s campaign resulted in just 325 yards through the air, two touchdowns and three INTS, although he continued to handle punting duties. By the time the season was done the team had put several different players behind center. Lee Grosscup (who became a successful broadcaster who covered everything from the American Football League to the original USFL) played the most, tossing for 1,456 yards, 10 TD and 15 interceptions.

Grosscup also briefly served as player/coach after Hartford boss Fred Wallner resigned in September.

Holyoke logged a 2-9-1 worksheet, bad enough for last place in the ACFL Northern Division. Jerry Whelchel started at QB for the Bombers, finishing with 1,844 yards and 15 touchdown passes against 13 picks.

While much of the tackle football world is focused on the first round of the NFL Draft tonight (I’m hoping the Jets don’t select a Division III long snapper with their first pick), I was more interested in the event that took place in Toronto this morning.

That’s when Stewart Johnston, the 15^th commissioner of the Canadian Football League, held his introductory press conference. As a longtime CFL fan from south of Canada’s border, I was both curious and excited to hear what the new boss had to say.

There were no surprises and none were really expected. He thanked outgoing commissioner Randy Ambrosie for his “dedication and leadership and friendship,” and stressed that he’ll be overseeing a healthy organization.

“Over the past few years, the CFL has seen remarkable growth,” said Johnston, a longtime executive at The Sports Network (TSN), a Canadian sports channel. “Last year, leaguewide revenues surpassed the threshold for growth sharing by $18 million, resulting in a significant increase to the 2025 cap. Game day revenues and attendance have increased in each of the last three seasons. Our digital presence has expanded with 42 percent growth in engagements. TV audiences have increased in each of the last two seasons. These stats highlight the positive trajectory of our league and the bright future ahead.”

Ambrosie spent eight years as CFL commissioner, with mixed results.

During his watch, ownership was solidified in the Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver markets, and – as Johnston mentioned – the circuit appears to be as healthy as it’s been in a while. All those were major wins for the former commish.

But there were also big swings and big misses.

The CFL 2.0 initiative added some international players to CFL rosters, but it didn’t provide a financial boost or expand the league’s footprint. A partnership with Mexico’s Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional hinted at the CFL playing games in Mexico, but that never happened.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled when Ambrosie was unable to secure financial help from the federal government. Neither a bubble format or shortened season could be worked out, and according to the Canadian Press, the CFL lost anywhere from $60 million to $80 million that year.

And in 2021 there was talk of a possible merger with the third reboot of the XFL, which some people feared might remake the three down game into a more Americanized competition.

Johnston wants to make sure the CFL maintains a strong Canadian “feel.”

“The CFL is a symbol of Canadian pride and unity,” he said. “Our league embodies the values that make Canada great –resiliency, diversity and community spirit.”

Johnston added that franchises are more than a business venture, but part of the fabric of their communities. He vow they’ll stay that way.

“The CFL has always been more than just a sports league, it is a community,” Johnston said. “Our teams are deeply rooted in their cities and towns, and our fans are the lifeblood of our league. At a time when Canadians are feeling a renewed sense of patriotism, we will strengthen these bonds by engaging with our communities, supporting local initiatives and giving back in meaningful ways.”

A major issue facing the CFL is an aging fan base. Under Ambrosie, the league seemed to be running in place in that regard. Johnston wants to use every avenue to make it more appealing to younger people, and says flag football is a good tool to bring in younger fans.

“We face stiff competition from other sports leagues as well as other forms of entertainment, and we must work diligently to attract and retain fans,” Johnston stressed. “Adapting to changes in consumer behavior, such as the shift towards digital media and streaming platforms is crucial, and we must address the aging fan base by developing strategies to appeal to younger generations. Introducing young people to the sport of football is essential for the future of the CFL and flag football plays a crucial role in this effort.

“So, short term, let’s go to where those younger fans are looking for entertaining content. Long term, I want kids touching footballs. I want them playing football. I want them understanding football. I want them loving football.”

Johnston also admitted expansion to a tenth franchise was not a top priority. There has been talk of a Halifax team for decades, but funding for a suitable stadium has yet to be secured.

“It will not be a primary focus for me as I take on this role,” he said. “I want to get this league with the nine clubs that we have in the best shape it can be. I think if we accomplish that, and I’m confident that we can, that expansion becomes even more viable. So no, I’m not going to be actively looking for a tenth team.

“However, if a great ownership group approaches us, we’ll certainly be listening.”

As someone who has loved the CFL for more than half a century, I always hope the tenure of a new commissioner will be the best tenure yet. With Johnston’s background and obvious passion for the game, he has a chance to be transformative.

Although I’m a fan of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, I cheer for the entire league. So that means I’ll be cheering for Johnston as he takes the reins of my favorite gridiron league.