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Much like Charley Brown and his annual attempt to kick that football while Lucy holds the ball for him, this weekend marks the debut for the latest and greatest spring professional football venture – at least since last year.
Welcome to the UFL!
Actually, the new United Football League is the result of a merger between last year’s two spring football leagues – the USFL and the XFL. Two games apiece will be played this Saturday (Fox) and Sunday afternoon (ESPN).
For the past two springs, the carefully (OK, cheaply) operated United States Football League (owned 100% by Fox Sports) played a spring football schedule. During its start-up campaign in 2022, Birmingham, Alabama was the only location where the USFL played its football games. Not surprisingly, the home team Birmingham Stallions won the inaugural USFL title.
In 2023, the USFL opted to play games in half of its eight markets to see if it could generate more fan interest in a few of its home cities. That didn’t exactly work, either. The Birmingham Stallions captured the USFL title once again in 2023.
Also in 2023, the third iteration of the XFL debuted. This time, wrestling’s Vince McMahon was not in charge. However, his former mega-star named “The Rock” (real name: Dwayne Johnson) and his former wife, Dani Garcia, teamed-up to promote and run the league.
Unlike the USFL, the XFL dived head first into playing all of its games in the local markets. They also kicked-off in late February – a full month before its competitor in the USFL started play.
Though the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks posted a solid 35,000 fans per home game during 2023, the other seven teams in the league failed to average 15,000 paying customers per home opener. The costs of associated with leasing football stadiums and weekly operations contributed to massive financial losses for the XFL during its first year in 2023.
To make matters worse, the XFL’s 2023 championship team had a losing record for the season! That’s right! The 4-7 Arlington (Texas) Renegades somehow qualified for the playoffs. They won two straight playoff games to finish with a 6-7 record and captured the 2023 XFL title.
One thing is certain. Spring pro football has been a big money loser!
According to one report, the 2023 version of the XFL lost $60 million. Perhaps that explains why 51-year old Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (with a reported net worth of $800 million) has decided to participate in the upcoming April 6 and 7 WWE WrestleMania event in Philadelphia.
Fox Sports’ ownership of the USFL has not provided any specific numbers about how much money the league lost in 2023, but the company had already invested over $70 million into the venture in 2022. If the USFL had been making money for Fox Sports in 2023, they would never have agreed to merge with the money-losing XFL late last year.
Instead of giving up on spring football entirely (perhaps a wise idea?), the ownership of the USFL and XFL announced a merger over the winter. Television ratings for both leagues failed to meet expectations. Neither league could draw more than 500,000 television viewers per week on average. Attendance also lagged projections for most teams in both leagues.
Nevertheless, the joint ownership of this newest spring pro football league (the UFL) must believe that this year is somehow going to be different! The USFL’s original stated goal in 2022 was to build a weekly television audience of one million home viewers per televised game and create a premium advertising vehicle for sponsors.
Two years of spring football later, that lofty goal was never reached.
What will change the momentum in 2024?
With just eight franchises this year (five from the former XFL and three from the USFL), there should be a better talent pool available for the UFL teams to draw from in 2024.
As in the past, all eight of the UFL franchises will train and practice in one central location. The teams will then fly to play games in their home market stadiums every week.
This year, the UFL’s home base of operation will be in Arlington, Texas. Only 42 players are required for each UFL franchise compared to 53 players on the average NFL team’s active roster.
Surprisingly, the UFL football players are unionized. The USFL Players Association helped negotiate the pay scales for the upcoming 2024 UFL spring football season.
Training camp began in late February. Up to 75 UFL training camp players on each team were to receive $850/week. In addition, the UFL players were provided with a weekly housing stipend of $400/week. Once the regular season begins and the roster is reduced, the minimum of 42 active players will be paid an average of $5,500 per game in 2024 for the ten-game regular season schedule.
In a move right out of the WWE playbook, the new UFL will operate with two divisions featuring teams from each of the original leagues (except Houston – which had teams in both leagues). The hope is to build a rivalry between the XFL division teams and those in the USFL division. Theoretically, the 2024 UFL winner will have bragging rights for its division.
Based on last year’s television viewership for spring pro football, I doubt that the average spring football TV viewer in 2024 is going to care very much about that.
There is one very positive change for fans of spring pro football this year. The weekly games will be found only on Fox, FS1, ABC and ESPN this season. Peacock is history!
Meet the 2024 UFL franchises
USFL Division:
Birmingham Stallions – Led by former Louisiana Tech football coach Skip Holtz, the Stallions feature former Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez and holdover quarterback from Louisiana Tech, J’Mar Smith. The defense will again be anchored by dynamic linebacker Scooby Wright.
Houston Roughnecks – This team (formerly known as the Houston Gamblers) will play at Rice Stadium in 2024. The go-to running back will again be Mark Thompson from the University of Florida.
Memphis Showboats – The Showboats’ roster includes former LSU wide receiver Derrick Dillon and returning quarterback Case Cookus from Northern Arizona. The defense features former Georgia Bulldogs’ cornerback DJ Daniel.
Michigan Panthers – The Panthers feature former LSU quarterback Danny Etling and Baylor WR Corey Coleman. The defense is anchored by former Ole Miss defensive end Breeland Speaks.
XFL Division:
Arlington Renegades – Former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops returns to the defending XFL champions. Last year’s starting quarterback Luis Perez and linebacker Donald Payne are expected to be among the top players again this season.
DC Defenders – Home of the now-legendary XFL beer snake, DC was 9-1 during the 2023 regular season before being upset in the playoffs. Former Baylor running back Abram Smith looks to lead the DC Defenders offense again this season.
St. Louis BattleHawks – Former LSU Tiger offensive lineman Vidal Alexander will lead the front lines for St. Louis this year. Returning wide receiver Hakeem Butler from Iowa State should see plenty of passes thrown his way again in 2024.
San Antonio Brahmas – Former NFL coach Wade Phillips will lead the Brahmas again this season. Former Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan will lead the offense in 2024, while former Michigan State defensive end Drew Beasley is coming off an All-XFL season last year. Brad Wing from LSU is going to handle the punting for San Antonio.
SwampSwami Prediction: Birmingham returns nearly all of its championship line-up in 2024 and should be the favorite for the title again this season.
IF the UFL succeeds in Year #1…
Let’s define “success” for the 2024 UFL season as financially breaking even after the league’s championship trophy is awarded on Sunday, June 16.
The UFL is already thinking about expanding to 12 teams in 2025. Perhaps they might wish to see how well this coming 2024 season goes first.
The UFL ownership understands that there isn’t a lot of significant competition for television viewers during the late spring/early summer period. They apparently believe that spring pro football can compete well against the NBA and its two months of playoffs along with early season Major League Baseball games and the weekly professional golf tournaments.
Week #1 starts this Saturday, March 30 with a doubleheader and two more games on Easter Sunday
This Saturday at 12 Noon Central time, the UFL will feature a match-up of the two defending champion teams. The 2023 USFL champion Birmingham Stallions will visit the XFL’s defending title holder Arlington Renegades in a game to be played in the former home of the Texas Rangers baseball team just west of Dallas.
The second game on Saturday will start at 3PM Central. It matches the St. Louis BattleHawks at the Michigan Panthers. Both of the Saturday games will be televised by Fox.
On Sunday, March 31, the DC Defenders travel to San Antonio to play the Brahmas at 11AM Central on Easter Sunday. The final game of the day will be a 2PM Central kick-off for the Memphis Showboats at the Houston Roughnecks. Both Sunday games will be shown on ESPN.
Here is a link to the complete weekly television schedule for the UFL in 2024.
The UFL is going head-to-head against the NCAA men’s and women’s March Madness basketball tournament during its first weekend of 2024. Let’s give the UFL three or four weeks to see how well it is performing on television and in the stands this season.
Why am I starting to feel like Charley Brown trying to kick that football once again this spring?
