As great as St. Louis has been for a host city of the UFL championship games over the last two years, fans were ready for a change of venue, and Washington, D.C. certainly delivered in a big way.
D.C. hosted the first-ever United Bowl as the home team Defenders became the first team in league history to play the championship game at home. It was the road team, the Louisville Kings, though, that ended up winning the game 27-20 and taking the trophy back to Kentucky.
It might have been a massive disappointment for the sold-out home crowd of over 19,000 in Audi Field to watch their team lose, but the city as a whole did not disappoint. D.C. was the perfect place to host a championship game.
UFL hits a home run with D.C. as the host city of the United Bowl
Over the last two years, the league has banked on the Battlehawks to make the title game and host in St. Louis, but has not been able to. That's potentially a ton of revenue the UFL lost from that.
This season, though, it paid off in a big way as the Defenders made it to the title game and played in front of their home crowd. D.C. showed, both before and during the game, why they were the right choice to host the United Bowl.
Before the game, there was a lot to do outside the stadium, from the fan fest to local businesses hosting fans. Anyone who is not from D.C. and got to check out Walter's learned quickly that there are a ton of passionate Defenders fans, as a sea of red is the only thing you can see (with a beer or two popping up). The atmosphere at that bar was electric, with Kings and Defenders fans coming together to celebrate their great seasons.
Fan fest was a big success as well, with a stage set up for music and booths all around offering different activities to take part in. Two hours before the game, the fan fest was packed with people enjoying themselves, which is great to see that people weren't just showing up when kickoff happened, but embracing all the pre-game activities that were there.
During the game, it might have been over 90 degrees, hot like the Dallas sun, but the energy in the stadium was unlike any other in the league. Louisville might have an argument after their home opener, but D.C. showed up and created a loud atmosphere that made things tough on the Kings early on. Of course, the legendary beer snake stole the show, as the league cleverly used gold cups for the game to create the biggest one ever seen at Audi Field.
Of course, it should be acknowledged that the atmosphere was helped by the fact that the Defenders were the ones in the title game. Regardless, UFL fans were ready for a change from St. Louis, and they got it right with D.C.
There have been some great host cities for spring football championship games, but D.C. set the standard of what it needs to be like in the future. Hopefully, the league will pick a new city like Louisville to host in 2027, but if D.C. has to be the place, the city has proved it can get it done.