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UFL 2025 Season

Thorn

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
Somehow the UFL is still alive and kicking. Roughnecks HC CJ Johnson who has a 6-14 record as HC of the Roughnecks returns, which is exactly what I didn't want to happen. He was pathetic as HC of the deceased Gamblers before being made the HC of the Roughnecks. So don't expect much improvement for the Roughnecks this season. Which doesn't mean I won't be watching, I just don't expect much of them.

All of the UFL games this year will be on ABC, FOX, or ESPN.
 
UFL training camp opens next Monday
By Mike Florio
Published February 24, 2025 04:26 PM

If you miss football, you won’t have to wait long for more of it.

The UFL has announced that its 2025 training camp opens next Monday, March 3.

Camp for all eight teams will be held in Arlington, Texas, at the league’s headquarters. The second season of the merged XFL and USFL gets started on March 28, when the St. Louis Battlehawks face the Houston Roughnecks on a Friday night.

This year, Friday night games will be a staple of the UFL experience, with four total games every weekend.

It’s twelve weeks of football, and it’s on free TV. And while it’s not football-season football, spring football is better than no football.
 
Kellen Mond is horrible.. I know that a lot of posters want Houston to draft him when he fell, but I think he's regressed if that's possible. He's 5 of 10 for just 46 yards in the first half in his UFL debut, with about 4 batted balls. I hope Mond got a good degree to fall back on.
 
Football is football unless it’s crappy football. Nobody wants to watch a bunch of no names play terrible football.

Until/Unless the NFL gets involved and makes this a true minor league, where players are actually a part of an NFL parent club, it’s not going to succeed. And it may not succeed even then.

And even then they don’t need to be playing in these 40,000+ seat stadiums. The Roughnecks, for example, ought to be playing in some high school stadium that isn’t being used in the spring.

I wouldn’t even put teams in cities where an NFL team exists. The Texans farm team playing in San Antonio would be perfect. Cowboys in Waco or OKC or something.

When the NFL goes to 18 games, you’re going to need more players anyway so I think some sort of farm system would be doable. Hell, half the QBs in the NFL are equivalent to AAA players anyway.
 
Speedy said:
Football is football unless it’s crappy football. Nobody wants to watch a bunch of no names play terrible football.

Until/Unless the NFL gets involved and makes this a true minor league, where players are actually a part of an NFL parent club, it’s not going to succeed. And it may not succeed even then.

And even then they don’t need to be playing in these 40,000+ seat stadiums. The Roughnecks, for example, ought to be playing in some high school stadium that isn’t being used in the spring.

I wouldn’t even put teams in cities where an NFL team exists. The Texans farm team playing in San Antonio would be perfect. Cowboys in Waco or OKC or something.

When the NFL goes to 18 games, you’re going to need more players anyway so I think some sort of farm system would be doable. Hell, half the QBs in the NFL are equivalent to AAA players anyway.
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Players in a Spring League wouldn’t have enough left in the tank to step in and help a parent NFL team.

I’ve mentioned this many times…a minor league wouldn’t need to take the open nights during the “football” season. If a player is needed, just call them up like MLB does.

A minor league would have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday open. That’d be a great time to keep up with Minor League Affiliates. I’d then park affiliates in existing or cities nearby NFL team locations. Fan support would be built in.
 
AcresHomesTexan said:
my nephew, Chris Odom now plays for Arlington...which is his hometown
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If he has a love for the game and it keeps him playing that is good. Hopefully he can get into the NFL for at least a little while. I am not so sure the NFL is interested in finding anything more than a few KaVontae Turpins if they truly give these players a fair look and try outs!
 
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Carr Bombed said:
Looks like he got on the only good team in Texas..
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I think it is way too early to make that assumption. There is a lot of season left to be played. With that line of thinking the Birmingham Stallions aren't very good. I bet dollars to donuts that the Stallions win more games than they lose and the Brahmas also have a winning season.
 
Speedy said:
Football is football unless it’s crappy football. Nobody wants to watch a bunch of no names play terrible football.

Until/Unless the NFL gets involved and makes this a true minor league, where players are actually a part of an NFL parent club, it’s not going to succeed. And it may not succeed even then.

And even then they don’t need to be playing in these 40,000+ seat stadiums. The Roughnecks, for example, ought to be playing in some high school stadium that isn’t being used in the spring.

I wouldn’t even put teams in cities where an NFL team exists. The Texans farm team playing in San Antonio would be perfect. Cowboys in Waco or OKC or something.

When the NFL goes to 18 games, you’re going to need more players anyway so I think some sort of farm system would be doable. Hell, half the QBs in the NFL are equivalent to AAA players anyway.
Click to expand...
Being that there will NEVER be another league like the USFL of the 80's I could care less about this or any other start up league. Minor leagues work out well for baseball and hockey but outside of that not so much. The NFL gets plenty of talent from college football. There is no big need for a minor league to the NFL.

I don't know how the Moose can say that he doesn't foresee the UFL being a developmental league to the NFL long term and he overestimates the level of talent in the UFL when it is obvious the football being played is subpar! I think this is the last season of the UFL. I would find an interest in the UFL is they had designs on being similar in business operation to Major League Soccer but that takes patience and enduring sub par football for a long while before it can be truly worth watching.
 
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TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
Being that there will NEVER be another league like the USFL of the 80's I could care less about this or any other start up league. Minor leagues work out well for baseball and hockey but outside of that not so much. The NFL gets plenty of talent from college football. There is no big need for a minor league to the NFL.
Click to expand...

Sure, college provides plenty of talent but a lot of that talent doesn’t get much of a chance to develop. That’s a big reason why there are so many busts in an NFL draft. Plenty of busts in the other sports too, but those players at least get a chance to get coached up and developed. And there’s always someone doing so well they get the call, or they get their chance when injuries happen. As I said before, that’s hard to do with NFL players when they are already on rosters expected to make contributions right away.

The NFL needs some kind of developmental league whether it draws fans or not. I don’t think eyes on it is the important thing there. And they’ve got the money to do it but it seems they’d rather spend 10’s of millions on these subpar QBs, particularly those drafted near the top of the draft, not knowing if they can even play the NFL game. OL drafted 15th that can’t get it down, and so on.
 
TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
If he has a love for the game and it keeps him playing that is good. Hopefully he can get into the NFL for at least a little while. I am not so sure the NFL is interested in finding anything more than a few KaVontae Turpins if they truly give these players a fair look and try outs!
Click to expand...
Chris has managed to piece together 4 NFL seasons enough for the lowest level of pension. He is 30 and was never a true explosive pass rusher, but he has effective hand usage and good in setting up the OT. He loves the game but was unsure about playing this year.
 
Any minor league system that wants to make a run at success, should make efforts to sign HS talent away from CFB.
 
AcresHomesTexan said:
Chris has managed to piece together 4 NFL seasons enough for the lowest level of pension. He is 30 and was never a true explosive pass rusher, but he has effective hand usage and good in setting up the OT. He loves the game but was unsure about playing this year.
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Well at least he can say he got paid playing a game he loves. If only every one of us could get paid doing something we love. I just wish the UFL would spend more money promoting the league and there were more feel good stories about the players and coaches so that we could feel closer ties to some players and coaches as well as the league in general!
 
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Mollywhopper said:
UFL 2025 Week 1 ratings sink in comparison to 2024

Too early to stick a fork in the UFL?
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In marketing alone the UFL could have done a much better job! People underestimate how important community involvement and marketing are in promoting a league or really any kind of product. It is akin to hypnotizing the consumer and it would get more people watching the games at the least on TV. I hate saying it but a lot of people are bought through the media and advertising. You can always tell when a product is losing consumers because advertising for that product picks up substantially!
 
Speedy said:
Sure, college provides plenty of talent but a lot of that talent doesn’t get much of a chance to develop. That’s a big reason why there are so many busts in an NFL draft. Plenty of busts in the other sports too, but those players at least get a chance to get coached up and developed. And there’s always someone doing so well they get the call, or they get their chance when injuries happen. As I said before, that’s hard to do with NFL players when they are already on rosters expected to make contributions right away.

The NFL needs some kind of developmental league whether it draws fans or not. I don’t think eyes on it is the important thing there. And they’ve got the money to do it but it seems they’d rather spend 10’s of millions on these subpar QBs, particularly those drafted near the top of the draft, not knowing if they can even play the NFL game. OL drafted 15th that can’t get it down, and so on.
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You make a good argument for an NFL developmental league but for some reason the NFL doesn't care to send much if any money going that route. If some amazingly dominant and talented players showcase themselves in the UFL they may be called up to do more then be special teams players or practice squad additions but I don't think that will happen before the UFL folds and goes with a whimper instead of a cosmic bang! The NFL is willing to take some but very few chances on UFL talent, still yet they don't want to spend any substantial money for the UFL to be entrenched in that role. I hate to say it but the merger may have been a mistake. Competition for both the XFL 3 and the new USFL may have been the best thing for both leagues. They should have agreed to a merger if both leagues could sustain themselves several years down the road! That didn't happen and I predict that since that didn't happen the two merged leagues now known as the UFL will fail no sooner than after this season!
 
Carr Bombed said:
I don't think the UFL can compete in that market.. one power 5 school probably has more NIL money than half the UFL league.
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From what I have read in recent years we have more big money people in this country than any other in the world. Why wouldn't wealthy owners invest more into the high schooler graduating and joining the UFL than what they could get going to college? I admit even after reading some on the NIL I still don't quite get it. It just seems to me that if you are wealthy enough you could sign these high school athletes outright for as much or more than they can make in college through NIL. I admit that when it comes to this kind of stuff I am far from the sharpest knife in the shelf. I will allow you all to teach me what I do not know.
 
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TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
From what I have read in recent years we have more big money people in this country than any other in the word. Why wouldn't wealthy owners invest more into the high schooler graduating and joining the UFL than what they could get going to college? I admit even after reading some on the NIL I still don't quite get it. It just seems to me that if you are wealthy enough you could sign these high school athletes outright for as much or more than they can make in college through NIL. I admit that when it comes to this kind of stuff I am far from the sharpest knife in the shelf. I will allow you all to teach me what I do not know.
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Get a little creative…offer the player a kick-back on team merchandise with their signature, likeness, or name. CFB sure the hell is far too greedy to allow something like that.
 
OptimisticTexan said:
Get a little creative…offer the player a kick-back on team merchandise with their signature, likeness, or name. CFB sure the hell is far too greedy to allow something like that.
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That's exactly what CFB allows and what they already get now.. "NIL" stands for name, image, and likeness. Plus schools are also allowed to pay players directly from a pool of 20 million dollars each. And I'm sure how players were getting paid illegally before this agreement, I'm sure schools are finding ways around that 20 million dollar cap.

CFB is NFL lite now when it comes to player salaries and can offer head and shoulders above what the UFL can financially support.
 
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Carr Bombed said:
That's exactly what CFB allows and what they already get now.. "NIL" stands for "name, image and likeness. Plus schools are also allowed to pay players directly from a pool of 20 million dollars each. And I'm sure how players were getting paid illegally before this agreement, I'm sure schools are finding ways around that 20 million dollar cap.

CFB is NFL lite now when it comes to player salaries and can offer head and shoulders above what the UFL can financially support.
Click to expand...

I never realized that’s what NIL stood for.
 
OptimisticTexan said:
I never realized that’s what NIL stood for.
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Amateur sports died with the NIL.. You didn't notice all the Quinn Ewers Dick's and Dr. Pepper commercials this past season? (and in my eyes, never was high on him, he isn't that good).

Looked it up.. the base salary in the UFL is only 55,000 dollars.. One player Arch Manning, who was the back up QB had a estimated NIL income of 6.6 million dollars!

How much is Arch Manning NIL?
His market value, driven by NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) agreements, is estimated at $6.6 million, positioning him as one of the most valuable college football players today, as Sportskeeda reported
Click to expand...
bolavip.com

Arch Manning’s net worth breakdown: The Longhorns QB’s growing wealth and NIL agreements

With a family of legends and unique talent, Arch Manning is ready to make his mark on football. His time as QB for the Texas Longhorns hasn't gone unnoticed, nor has his growing fortune. Check out his current net worth.
bolavip.com bolavip.com

His net worth before ever being a starter is already 13 million! No upstart football league can compete with that..and the transfer portal (college free agency) only makes it worse.. because now the juco players who didn't get those initial deals out of high school, if they show out they can be playing for a power 5 school with a brinks truck backed up the very next year.

The NIL is new and is considered the wild west of sports, because it's so new and needs a regulating body that isn't there yet.. Give it a couple of years, I'm sure we're all going to hear the dark tales of all of this. There's a reason why Nick Saben retired as soon as all of this happened.. especially since the state had NIL restrictions at the time, but now they are begging for NIL money.. even trying to pass a state bill (Georgia too) against their own state income tax laws where NIL payments are TAX EXEMPT!!! just so they can compete against states like Texas and Florida lol. I have to laugh or I'd cry over the insanity of this all.

It's getting so bad when I watch High school games I'm starting to wonder if players are already cashing checks.

College football is a full on professional football league now.. (they don't even care about class attendance and grades anymore, just football) and is only surpassed by the NFL.
 
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Carr Bombed said:
Amateur sports died with the NIL.. You didn't notice all the Quinn Ewers Academy and Dr. Pepper commercials this past season? (and in my eyes, never was high on him, he isn't that good).

Looked it up.. the base salary in the UFL is only 55,000 dollars.. One player Arch Manning, who was the back up QB had a estimated NIL income of 6.6 million dollars!


bolavip.com

Arch Manning’s net worth breakdown: The Longhorns QB’s growing wealth and NIL agreements

With a family of legends and unique talent, Arch Manning is ready to make his mark on football. His time as QB for the Texas Longhorns hasn't gone unnoticed, nor has his growing fortune. Check out his current net worth.
bolavip.com bolavip.com

His net worth before ever being a starter is already 13 million! No upstart football league can compete with that..and the transfer portal (college free agency) only makes it worse.. because now the juco players who didn't get those initial deals out of high school, if they show out they can be playing for a power 5 school with a brinks truck backed up the very next year.

The NIL is new and is considered the wild west of sports, because it's so new and needs a regulating body that isn't there yet.. Give it a couple of years, I'm sure we're all going to hear the dark tales of all of this. There's a reason why Nick Saben retired as soon as all of this happened.. especially since the state had NIL restrictions at the time, but now they are begging for NIL money.. even trying to pass a state bill (Georgia too) against their own state income tax laws where NIL payments are TAX EXEMPT!!! just so they can compete against states like Texas and Florida lol. I have to laugh or I'd cry over the insanity of this all.

It's getting so bad when I watch High school games I'm starting to wonder if players are already cashing checks.

College football is a full on professional football league now.. (they don't even care about class attendance and grades anymore, just football) and is only surpassed by the NFL.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it got corrupt in a hurry. They’ll have to slap a cap on it or have Congress step in and deem NIL illegal for Universities and Colleges since they’re breaching the student/athlete amateur status. Greed….it’s a mutha ducker.
 
OptimisticTexan said:
Yeah, it got corrupt in a hurry. They’ll have to slap a cap on it or have Congress step in and deem NIL illegal for Universities and Colleges since they’re breaching the student/athlete amateur status. Greed….it’s a mutha ducker.
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It was always corrupt, they just turned the lights on and got out of the way.

And I don't know what is illegal about paying college athletes or what significance 'student athlete/amateur status' has to do with anything. I would certainly agree there needs to be rules in place to properly govern it all versus the wild west it is now, but I would also agree these kids deserve to get paid. It's a billion dollar industry off the backs of their hard work.
 
Mollywhopper said:
It was always corrupt, they just turned the lights on and got out of the way.

And I don't know what is illegal about paying college athletes or what significance 'student athlete/amateur status' has to do with anything. I would certainly agree there needs to be rules in place to properly govern it all versus the wild west it is now, but I would also agree these kids deserve to get paid. It's a billion dollar industry off the backs of their hard work.
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How much is that hard work worth?.. they were never working for free, a free ride to these universities was already worth hundred of thousand dollars... It certainly isn't worth 6.6 million dollars. These kids were never free labor.
 
Carr Bombed said:
How much is that hard work worth?.. they were never working for free, a free ride to these universities was already worth hundred of thousand dollars... It certainly isn't worth 6.6 million dollars. These kids were never free labor.
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I think like any billion dollar market.. it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay you.

I also think free market for me but not for 'them' is pretty lame.

I'm not sure what about the college athletic setting, other than old-head tradition, should be any different than any other labor setting.
 
Mollywhopper said:
I think like any billion dollar market.. it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay you.

I also think free market for me but not for 'them' is pretty lame.

I'm not sure what about the college athletic setting, other than old-head tradition, should be any different than any other labor setting.
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I have no problem with kids getting paid for their name, image, and likeness.. If they can get it from people like Dick's or Dr Pepper, I get it... I do have a problem with universities dumping millions of dollars on top of a free ride in these kid's laps and then going to state legislators trying to make these payments "tax exempt". If I lived in a state with state income taxes, I'd stop paying my ******* taxes as soon as a kid/football player didn't have to do the same. That's ridiculous.

If I'm out there busting my ass and still paying taxes to a state that gives a football player tax exempt status.. guess what I'm not paying those taxes anymore and would love them to invite me to court to discuss why I have to pay taxes for my work when they don't. That's NOT "old-head" thinking (I'm only 42 btw), it's common damn sense.. btw, this country sure could use more "old-head" thinking.. because this new **** hasn't worked at all and has been a complete failure.
 
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Carr Bombed said:
Amateur sports died with the NIL.. You didn't notice all the Quinn Ewers Academy and Dr. Pepper commercials this past season? (and in my eyes, never was high on him, he isn't that good).

Looked it up.. the base salary in the UFL is only 55,000 dollars.. One player Arch Manning, who was the back up QB had a estimated NIL income of 6.6 million dollars!


bolavip.com

Arch Manning’s net worth breakdown: The Longhorns QB’s growing wealth and NIL agreements

With a family of legends and unique talent, Arch Manning is ready to make his mark on football. His time as QB for the Texas Longhorns hasn't gone unnoticed, nor has his growing fortune. Check out his current net worth.
bolavip.com bolavip.com

His net worth before ever being a starter is already 13 million! No upstart football league can compete with that..and the transfer portal (college free agency) only makes it worse.. because now the juco players who didn't get those initial deals out of high school, if they show out they can be playing for a power 5 school with a brinks truck backed up the very next year.

The NIL is new and is considered the wild west of sports, because it's so new and needs a regulating body that isn't there yet.. Give it a couple of years, I'm sure we're all going to hear the dark tales of all of this. There's a reason why Nick Saben retired as soon as all of this happened.. especially since the state had NIL restrictions at the time, but now they are begging for NIL money.. even trying to pass a state bill (Georgia too) against their own state income tax laws where NIL payments are TAX EXEMPT!!! just so they can compete against states like Texas and Florida lol. I have to laugh or I'd cry over the insanity of this all.

It's getting so bad when I watch High school games I'm starting to wonder if players are already cashing checks.

College football is a full on professional football league now.. (they don't even care about class attendance and grades anymore, just football) and is only surpassed by the NFL.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clarifying everything with all that you said, This is a big reason that the UFL will fail without NFL backing and money just like you said. As long as Power 5 football in college is the way it is and is the Defacto feeder league of the NFL no upstart league will make it without the NFL's FULL backing. That sucks! Is there a way the UFL could prove that the NFL is running a monopoly and using unfair business practices?
 
TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
Thanks for clarifying everything with all that you said, This is a big reason that the UFL will fail without NFL backing and money just like you said. As long as Power 5 football in college is the way it is and is the Defacto feeder league of the NFL no upstart league will make it without the NFL's FULL backing. That sucks! Is there a way the UFL could prove that the NFL is running a monopoly and using unfair business practices?
Click to expand...

Salary cap based on what the lowest teams in D1 could afford to pay players to be on an equal ability to recruit and be competitive. That may knock a hole in players NIL money, but it could be CFB that’s viewed as operating as a monopoly for Power 5 schools. Bigger TV contracts and mo’ money puts them in a position to have a distinct advantage over lesser schools in recruiting and stealing developed talent from those smaller schools.
 
TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
Thanks for clarifying everything with all that you said, This is a big reason that the UFL will fail without NFL backing and money just like you said. As long as Power 5 football in college is the way it is and is the Defacto feeder league of the NFL no upstart league will make it without the NFL's FULL backing. That sucks! Is there a way the UFL could prove that the NFL is running a monopoly and using unfair business practices?
Click to expand...
Actually, already done by the current President..
 
Yeah, this league is folding at the end of this season.. The roughnecks are playing on national television against Birmingham and the stadium is completely EMPTY. I don't think their current fan capacity could even fill a Jr high school stadium in Texas. This is sad, I feel for those players.
 
Carr Bombed said:
Yeah, this league is folding at the end of this season.. The roughnecks are playing on national television against Birmingham and the stadium is completely EMPTY. I don't think their current fan capacity could even fill a Jr high school stadium in Texas. This is sad, I feel for those players.
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If they want people to attend the games they have to put a competent team on the field
 
Thorn said:
From what I see, the attendance is down this year in the UFL and that spells trouble. As to the Roughnecks, they are a sad replica of that great initial Roughneck team.
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That coach of theirs is a buffoon.. I wonder what David Culley is doing these days? (Probably still cashing Cal and Hannah's checks) Even he has to be better than that guy.
 
UFL is in no man’s land with a bad product in tow. They’re competing with the tail-end of the basketball and hockey seasons….now in their playoffs. Baseball is also cranking up. A poor professional football league just isn’t going to capture the fan base needed to succeed.

Change the season to Tuesday and Wednesday nights during the Fall and Winter. Much better chance to capture a fan base.
 
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