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UFL 2025 Season

OptimisticTexan said:
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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"Broadcast" TV time might be an issue there. They'd probably use a lot of ESPN or similar outlets for their TV games. But the advantage of them in a fall season is that's the only way they'll ever become a true minor league where players can be called up into the NFL.
 
JB said:
If they want people to attend the games they have to put a competent team on the field
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They can't put competent teams on the field. The talent for it doesn't exist.

Again, this league, USFL, XFL, UFL, whatever they want to call it, was doomed from the get go because it doesn't have NFL backing as a developmental league. Going on their own with an entire league that is nothing but last preseason game 4th string football, nobody wants to see that, and more importantly nobody wants to pay to see it.

Even with the TV contracts they have, this league won't last very much longer because if the stands are empty, I can't image TV ratings are too much higher than 0. No eyeballs means no one is seeing ads. Game over.

And I can't imagine another go at something like this unless the NFL is involved somehow. Its just not going to work without them. And the way the NFL tries to squeeze every nickel they can get, I seriously doubt they'll ever put money into something that they won't get a big return on. I mean, they actually tried it once with NFL Europe and pulled the plug on it because it wasn't profitable. This may be the last we see of these little spring leagues.
 
Call the football substandard all you want but the football I witnessed in week four has been pretty good. These kids are playing their asses off and the UFL may not be owned by the NFL but these kids know they have an outside chance making it on NFL squads. I don't think many of them will but just the same they have a chance!
 
Speedy said:
They can't put competent teams on the field. The talent for it doesn't exist.

Again, this league, USFL, XFL, UFL, whatever they want to call it, was doomed from the get go because it doesn't have NFL backing as a developmental league. Going on their own with an entire league that is nothing but last preseason game 4th string football, nobody wants to see that, and more importantly nobody wants to pay to see it.

Even with the TV contracts they have, this league won't last very much longer because if the stands are empty, I can't image TV ratings are too much higher than 0. No eyeballs means no one is seeing ads. Game over.

And I can't imagine another go at something like this unless the NFL is involved somehow. Its just not going to work without them. And the way the NFL tries to squeeze every nickel they can get, I seriously doubt they'll ever put money into something that they won't get a big return on. I mean, they actually tried it once with NFL Europe and pulled the plug on it because it wasn't profitable. This may be the last we see of these little spring leagues.
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I think the league will at least get beyond this season and with expansion next season we shall see how well that goes. I think they need to sell off teams to individual investors sooner than later but I at least see a real push to make the league more popular into next season. I think next season is a make it or break it season.

I think the football is better than you think it is but I am not hard to please.
 
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TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
You obviously haven't seen the TV ratings. Even the lower rated games have done better than a lot of other scripted programs or any other sports would have done in the same time slot.

As far as NFL Europe goes I would venture to say that the NFL Europe cost more than the USFL, XFL, UFL and what was the case 25 to 30 years ago is not the case today.

I felt like you about the chances of the UFL making it beyond this season but it isn't like they need TV contract money when Fox sports and ABC owns part of the league. The UFL runs things cheaper than other leagues did and TV ratings are good enough to allow for future growth. It is not like they need to fill stadiums when the cost of admission is cheap. I think the league will at least get beyond this season and with expansion next season we shall see how well that goes. I think they need to sell off teams to individual investors sooner than later but I at least see a real push to make the league more popular into next season. I think next season is a make it or break it season.

I think the football is better than you think it is but I am not hard to please.
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Viewership down 33% from last year, averaging 666,000 per game, down from 816,000 last year. Yes, that’s most likely still better than anything else on on a Saturday in the spring, so there’s that. So maybe they keep going with it. And if they do, that’s fine. These players need an outlet to get experience and coaching to maybe keep the dream alive. Got zero problem with that. But it’s not good football and it never will be. And they could probably save a ton of money finding a high school stadium to play in instead of these 40k+ stadiums with nobody in them.
 
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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The league doesn't need fans in the stands just good ratings on TV. Of coarse a big reason the stands are nearly empty is due to the cheap way they are going about promoting the league. If they would sell teams individually to their own owners that would off set some of the financial burden from Fox and Redbird capital
 
AcresHomesTexan said:
Actually, already done by the current President..
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I am 53 yo and I know all about that but it seems like the way the NFL and CFL are doing things is as much a monopoly as when the original NFL lost their meager amount of money due to their being proof they had run a monopoly. It didn't matter because the USFL was seen to be getting in their own way. I think the UFL has run things better. They can't do better financially than they are, "due to NFL and NCAA ties," which makes it harder to compete with the NFL or sustain themselves with the system that is in place. The first USFL lawsuit was due to a TV rights monopoly but there are other things involving a monopoly nowadays.

What exactly are the UFL's future plans when Daryle "Moose" Johnston says he doesn't foresee the future of the UFL being an entrenched developmental league?

Many of you would love for the UFL to go that route. I would not. I want a spring football league equivalent of the NFL and if that is unlikely to ever take place again, I am more than happy to say goodbye to spring football and bye to the UFL as we know it.

I wish the XFL never got involved. The teams in the USFL looked more NFL worthy and I don't think the USFL needed the XFL but what was more than likely the case the XFL needed the USFL. Even though the USFL giving more into the XFL says otherwise. That is just a matter of the USFL brass wearing skirts and I am talking about the female kind that is part of a dress and not the Scottish Kilt.

A little on the mindset of the jurors and food for thought on why any new lawsuit may or may not be successful!
www.upi.com

Jurors who heard the U.S. Football League's antitrust case... - UPI Archives

Jurors who heard the U.S. Football League's antitrust case against the NFL said Tuesday their deliberations became so emotional that one juror screamed and...
www.upi.com www.upi.com
 
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Well me and my son watched the game on Sunday and in true Houston fashion, didn’t know how to play football in the second half and lost after being up 25-6. Shame they couldn’t have added a TD and 2 point conversion (32-6) to dig the ineptitude dagger a little deeper before completely blowing the lead.
 
Thorn said:
I watched a bit of the Roughnecks game today, and the stands at U of H were empty. Really empty. Even if the UFL survives another year, I don't think the Roughnecks will if they can't sell any tickets.
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The UFL claims to not care about fans in the stands, they seem to be content with the 600k+ fans they average viewing games on TV per game. If they are content with those numbers than who am I to insist otherwise?!
 
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CloakNNNdagger said:
Is UFL plotting expansion to Oakland, Philly, New Jersey, and/or Tampa?
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If they expand by four more teams I hope it is two teams this season and two teams next and there is not a rush to add four for the next upcoming season. Also, I think they would be making a big mistake if they don't look to start selling teams and add a team in Seattle be it they return the Sea Dragons or add another team to the city. It does make me feel better about the sustainability of the UFL if they are expanding by at least two teams as early as next season. In the process of returning two teams it is a good sign that the league has run things in a way that they can financially add more teams to the league.

On a side note I found a way in which the UFL could do things to start to resemble the original USFL but not completely. https://uflnewshub.com/ufl-history/could-the-ufl-become-an-option-for-top-nfl-draft-prospects/ Using the UFL as a bargaining chip to have more say in where they continue their careers in the NFL. All it would take is for one player to set that precedent. Than the flood gates would open.
 
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If anyone honestly thinks a prospect the level of Caleb Williams, or any nfl caliber prospect for that matter, is ever sincerely entertaining the idea of signing with the ufl over going into the nfl draft.. I mean, that's head examination level thinking.

I get it for people that want to see that league continue on and grow, like fair enough, but please try and consider the notion in even a remotely rational way. Any new league, if it's ever going to stick around, it takes a really long, really slow burn to accomplish that. It's truly a marathon and not a sprint.
 
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