The United Football League just announced the schedule for the 2025 season. Kicking off the 2025 season on March 28th with the first of ten Friday night games, the UFL returns to a passionate and still-growing fan base. Adding a Friday night component to the schedule is an intriguing prospect.
There is no shortage of televised competitive sports to watch in the spring. Despite tough competition from other sporting events, the UFL’s successful inaugural season proved there is an audience eager to watch spring football. TV ratings grew throughout the season, surpassing the previous year’s numbers. Fan engagement on social media expanded as a passionate fan base emerged on various platforms in support of their favorite teams.
Nonetheless, fans were often forced to choose between watching their favorite UFL football team or other equally compelling spring sporting events. In addition to Major League Baseball, professional golf, the NBA playoffs, and the NCAA tournament, there was also competition from the NHL, and Premier League Soccer. Scheduling games on Friday nights could alleviate some of the direct afternoon competition, allowing fans to watch multiple sports throughout the weekend.
Along with announcing the schedule and the addition of Friday night games, UFL teams announced that fans could pre-order their season tickets beginning next month. Allowing fans to pre-purchase season tickets months ahead of the opening weekend should help eliminate a major issue from last year.
Although the TV ratings were strong, one of the biggest problems the UFL faced last season was the challenge of filling stadium seats. The problem stemmed in large part from the UFL’s late introduction. The UFL wasn’t formally introduced to the public until December 31, 2023, with the league announcing the intention to play the following spring.
From that point on, it was a mad dash to the finish line as the league scrambled to prepare for the season opener on March 30, 2024. There was barely enough time for the teams to acquire players from the dispersal draft, hire coaching staff, and begin practice sessions. By the time the coaches were done evaluating their players and finalizing rosters, it was already too late for the league to sell advance tickets.
It was especially hard for newly formed teams like the Memphis Showboats. Although there was an established fan base for teams like the Birmingham Stallions and the St. Louis Battlehawks, there simply wasn’t sufficient time to properly introduce brand-new teams and build a following.
But as the UFL returns for the 2025 season to an established fan base, only one element is missing. There is no better way to increase fan engagement than with fantasy football. Fantasy Sports players are among the most passionate and loyal fans and more than 80% of all Fantasy sports players engage in Fantasy Football. The growth of the fantasy sports market is booming and is projected to exceed 37 billion dollars this year. ESPN has the most popular fantasy platform with 43% of fantasy-sports players using ESPN Fantasy Games.
Although Underdog Fantasy will be offering prop betting, it doesn’t generate the same level of engagement as managing a team throughout the season in a competitive fantasy league. As the relationship between fantasy managers and the players in their lineup deepens, must-see TV viewership also grows. It only makes sense for the networks to invest in a fantasy component if they want to expand the fan base and increase TV ratings. ESPN, the opportunity is there. What are you waiting for?
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2 Comments
by Ken Granito
Hi, I love your article. I actually love your writing style. You bring REAL writing where you often being about the story beneath the story. That is different than some of the other writers that bring out just their point and I know, because when comment I am often that way. I just want to bring out to you that the Showboats were around and in Memphis in 23. I am not saying there weren’t issues coming into ‘24, but if the fans were on board (clever right?) they should have been ready to go. It’s not like it cost much more than going to the movies and you don’t plan for that. What they need to do is attract fans. The renovations and the earlier ticket sales will help. I agree with your thoughts on Fantasy helping the league and that the league has loyal fans. You are so right on. One helps the other and vice verse.
Football is a great sport and better than any of the other entertainment alternatives you mentioned so I don’t really worry about the competition. The worry is when is the public consumed with too much football and when does gambling taint the great sport of football. Also, I fully believe, if you build it they will come. Helping Memphis feel good about the team will be tickets will be Paxton Lynch and Darrell Henderson going into training camp. If they perform well and make the team, that will sell more tickets. I know Mike Vrabel is currently with the Browns in some capacity, but if he were the Showboats HC, boy would that rally the fans. Mike Munchak would even be a positive and could likely live the rest of his life on what he has earned. I know these would be difficult asks, but Lynch already proved to be open to Spring football and he did not play poorly even in a circumstance of having less than stable circumstances. If 2026 comes around and somehow the Dragons come back and Pete Carroll happens to be the head coach or the Boston Breakers with Bill Belichek. Fans will pay attention. If able to have stadiums that work for it to be cost effective a synergy will build there. The league cannot go out and sign Hershel Walker and Steve Young like the USFL did in the 80s. They need to have a good product first and match it with someone to root for. The league is building itself first and that is the most important, but if you can find synergies. I suggested Ted Cottrell as DC for the Generals and that defense was great, even better than the sum of their parts. As an original General and excellent DC for the NFL Jets I knew he would work. Unfortunately for the Generals they played in Canton and not NJ. I love to read your future articles. Hoping you will be getting to write about some of these ideas/dreams in the future.
by Gary Winter
I agree that Fantasy Football would bring in interest in the league that may not exist at this point. Also, I’m curious what others might think of re-doing the conferences in a more strategic way by placing teams in their conference based on location rather than than their former league. My thoughts are that natural rivalries might form quicker where fans could actually travel to away games and wear their colors in front of the other teams fans. St. Louis and Memphis would be a natural rivalry since they are only about 4 hours apart. Of course the Texas teams are somewhat close to each other and Memphis and Birmingham are also fairly close. The only outliers at this time are Washington who already has the start of a rivalry with St. Louis and Michigan.
I understand why the original conferences were set-up like they were. That made sense then and especially when you set-up a league in just a couple months but now all of us need to work towards finding ways to get others interested so this thing survives beyond a few years. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has been to a game who didn’t enjoy it.