The UFL ended year two of its merger this past Saturday night in a firework filled game on ABC, which saw the DC Defenders best the Michigan Panthers 58-34 to become league champions. The XFL and USFL conference champions combined for 92 points, but the record output wasn't able to score the league its best viewed game of the season or match up to recent spring pro league championship games.
Saturday's 6/14 primetime UFL 2025 Championship Game telecast on ABC was watched by an average of 983,000 viewers. The game's viewership peaked at 1.2 million viewers during its opening 15 minutes at 8-8:15 pm eastern time. The 983k average is down nearly 40 percent from the UFL 2024 Championship last June on FOX, which averaged 1.596 million viewers.
The final rating for the UFL on ABC in the league's most important game of the 2025 season is undoubtedly a downer. Especially considering, that ABC had scored eight of the UFL's top 10 audiences of the season, including last week's USFL conference game which averaged 1.1 million viewers. The 983k average for the Championship contest, still ranks as the third most viewed game of the 2025 UFL season, but is a letdown to compared to the USFL, XFL, and UFL championship game's viewership levels since 2022.
The disappointing finale audience caps off a downward year two trend, which saw the UFL experience decreases in league viewership and attendance, almost completely across the board. The novelty for the merger wore off, and some apathy set in among the league's dedicated fan base.
On top of that, In what is a never-ending struggle for outdoor spring pro football leagues, the UFL was unable to attract casual football fans to sample the product in 2025. Something that has occurred in years past for league openers and championship games.
The quality of play and the broadcasts on ABC, in particular were at peak level this season. Thanks in great part to the addition of a highly invested Joe Tessitore on play-by-play. But the UFL's ownership and partner group which includes FOX, and Disney, needs to regroup, and find a way to reinvigorate its loyal fanbase, and attract new fans.