UFL Season

[Blue In BC]

Starts today. Interest is only nominal but I'll watch the 1st game briefly. Not expecting much but there isn't much else to watch.

Mostly just curious about any new rules and how the broadcast is organized etc.

EDIT: Watched part of 1st 8 and last 8 minutes of the game.

Crowds looked sparse although couldn't exactly tell how large the attendance was or how many tickets were freebies.

EDIT # 2: Watched even less of the 2nd game. Also had sparse crowds but at least there were people in the stands.

The other 2 games in the 1st weekend were not available to me. That's not a problem for me as only a curious observer. The question is it seems that only  half the games are broadcast where the general public can observe. That doesn't bode well for any increase in general following. Not even sure if games are held in each team cities or centralized in only a few cities.

Will try to follow any attendance information as it becomes available.

[gobombersgo]

Games will only be played in 4 stadiums. I'd think attendance that doesn't involve home teams will be more dismal.

UFL 2024 Week 1 Attendance Numbers
Week    Date    Time    Visitor    Home    Stadium    Attendance
1    Sat 30-Mar-24    1:00 PM ET    BIR    ARL    Choctaw Stadium    14,153
1    Sat 30-Mar-24    4:00 PM ET    STL    MI    Ford Field    9,444
1    Sun 31-Mar-24    12:00 PM ET    D.C.    SAN    Alamodome    13,164
1    Sun 31-Mar-24    3:00 PM ET    MEM    HOU    Audi Field    9,157

My understanding is that each team has a home stadium to play in.

But what is interesting is all the players stay in Arlington and just fly to their "home city" for games.

Can you image if the Bombers didnt stay in Winnipeg? There would be minimal opportunities to interact with fans and very little media coverage.

[Blue In BC]

My understanding is that each team has a home stadium to play in.

But what is interesting is all the players stay in Arlington and just fly to their "home city" for games.

Can you image if the Bombers didnt stay in Winnipeg? There would be minimal opportunities to interact with fans and very little media coverage.

8 teams and only 4 stadiums being used. Sure, you can call any stadium as the home city, but it's not the same as actually playing in a city that you actually represent.

That has to impact attendance. We'll see how this works out but 1st week attendance was already down from previous incarnations

[gobombersgo]

8 teams and only 4 stadiums being used. Sure, you can call any stadium as the home city, but it's not the same as actually playing in a city that you actually represent.

That has to impact attendance. We'll see how this works out but 1st week attendance was already down from previous incarnations

I am not sure where you are getting the info that they are only playing in 4 stadiums.

"The league also confirmed the eight home stadiums for 2024: Protective Stadium (Birmingham), Choctaw Stadium (Arlington), Rice Stadium (Houston), Audi Field (D.C.), Liberty Stadium (Memphis), The Alamodome (San Antonio), Ford Field (Michigan) and The Dome at America's Center (St. Louis)."

https://www.reuters.com/sports/ufl-announces-inaugural-43-game-schedule-2024-02-05/

[Blue In BC]

I am not sure where you are getting the info that they are only playing in 4 stadiums.

"The league also confirmed the eight home stadiums for 2024: Protective Stadium (Birmingham), Choctaw Stadium (Arlington), Rice Stadium (Houston), Audi Field (D.C.), Liberty Stadium (Memphis), The Alamodome (San Antonio), Ford Field (Michigan) and The Dome at America's Center (St. Louis)."

https://www.reuters.com/sports/ufl-announces-inaugural-43-game-schedule-2024-02-05/

I stand corrected. It was just last week I read something about only 4 stadiums. Perhaps it was an older reference to one of the previous entities and seasons.

I did see that St Louis had a very large crowd yesterday. So seeing how attendance translates over the season will be something to watch.

Something I read this morning suggests they want to add more teams in 2025.

[theaardvark]

The games were not totally unwatchable.  When nothing else is on TV, and you're playing poker online and need something in the background...

[theaardvark]

They should play all the games in St. Louis.  They seem to be missing the NFL badly and will accept anything in its place...

[Blue In BC]

They should play all the games in St. Louis.  They seem to be missing the NFL badly and will accept anything in its place...

There reports that the UFL plans to add 4 more teams in 2025 and 4 in 2026. Obviously that was preliminary info and locations not decided.

I wonder how low attendance will figure into those plans.

[theaardvark]

https://youtu.be/S-Xrlf3taEo

Just saying. I can't see how this low attendance makes for a league surviving. Yes it's year 1 as the UFL but the XFL and USFL were supposed to be a foundation.


Arlington: 10,283
Houston: 6,285
D.C.: 16,058
Memphis: 7,640

Is gate even an issue in this leagues business plan?  If the gate covers the cost of concession workers, it probably is a bonus.

Pretty sure this is a content generation league. The TV revenue is all they need to cover costs.  Its not like the CFL where we have such a small potential audience.  Not sure what the neilsen ratings are for the broadcasts, but it shouldn't be hard to cover roster costs on a league that has lower salaries than the CFL...

If they build gate, then maybe they become profitable. 

[Blue In BC]

Is gate even an issue in this leagues business plan?  If the gate covers the cost of concession workers, it probably is a bonus.

Pretty sure this is a content generation league. The TV revenue is all they need to cover costs.  Its not like the CFL where we have such a small potential audience.  Not sure what the neilsen ratings are for the broadcasts, but it shouldn't be hard to cover roster costs on a league that has lower salaries than the CFL...

If they build gate, then maybe they become profitable. 

If you can't get people to the stadium then TV viewership will drop as will revenue. From what I've seen the TV viewership is also dropping week to week.

[Blue In BC]

https://preview.redd.it/ufl-attendance-through-week-6-v0-tw89idpntoyc1.png?width=797&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef83035a023761754c21c990769818f39c0832ea

[ModAdmin]

So, in an 8 team league, one team (St. Louis) has roughtly 1/3rd of the attendance, and their attendance is steadily declining. It's not sounding like a very viable situation.   

[Blue In BC]

https://preview.redd.it/ufl-attendance-through-week-9-v0-yxrjtfvbfv2d1.png?width=1023&format=png&auto=webp&s=88a635d1fad7f009cc1f68a607bf1de239dec7e9