# UFL 2025 Kickoff Weekend TV Ratings On FOX And ESPN

- Author: Mike Mitchell
- Published: 2025-04-01T15:47:04Z
- Updated: 2026-07-09T17:07:25Z
- Categories: UFL (ufl), San Antonio Brahmas (san-antonio-brahmas), Dallas Renegades (dallas-renegades), DC Defenders (dc-defenders), Houston Gamblers (houston-gamblers), Memphis Showboats (memphis-showboats), Michigan Panthers (michigan-panthers), St. Louis Battlehawks (st-louis-battlehawks), Birmingham Stallions (birmingham-stallions)
- Canonical URL: https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/ufl-2025-kickoff-weekend-tv-ratings-on-fox-and-espn

The [UFL TV ratings](https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/ufl-2025-tv-opening-game-tv-rating-on-fox) are in from the league's 2025 kickoff weekend. The long-since merged [XFL-USFL](http://www.theufl.com) league launched its second campaign with two games on FOX and a doubleheader on ESPN Sunday.

## UFL 2025 Kickoff Weekend TV Ratings On FOX/ESPN

**Friday Night On FOX, March 28**

Friday Night’s [UFL 2025](http://www.theufl.com/) primetime opener on FOX featured the St. Louis Battlehawks at the Houston Roughnecks. It aired at 8 p.m. ET and averaged **690,000** viewers. The telecast peaked at **844,000** viewers during the first 15 minutes of the game. The game's final half hour of the Battlehawks 31-6 victory saw viewership dip to **554,000** viewers. The 18-49 viewership demo scored a 0.15 rating.

Last year's [UFL](https://uflnewshub.com/ufl) opening game on Saturday, March 30, which didn't go directly against four NCAA tournament games, averaged **1.181 million** viewers.

The competition for the UFL on Friday night was formidable. In the same window, the NCAA's March Madness Sweet 16 matchups averaged over 7 million viewers on CBS and nearly 3 million viewers on TBS. The World Figure Skating Championships on NBC averaged 1.73 million viewers. ABC's Shark Tank and 20/20 averaged 2.4 million viewers during prime time. The UFL was also outpaced by several cable shows in the evening, including WWE's Smackdown on the USA Network, which averaged 1.35 million viewers. The NCAA Women's tournament averaged 1.41 million on UFL's broadcast partner, ESPN.

**Saturday Afternoon on FOX, March 29**

The UFL's Saturday afternoon game on FOX, featuring the San Antonio Brahmas and [Arlington Renegades](https://uflnewshub.com/team/dallas-renegades), averaged **584,000** viewers. The 3 p.m. eastern telecast peaked at its conclusion with **673,000** viewers.

**Sunday Afternoon UFL Doubleheader on ESPN, March 30**

The noon ET UFL ESPN telecast of the Memphis Showboats and [Michigan Panthers](https://uflnewshub.com/team/michigan-panthers/) averaged **569,000** viewers. The game peaked at 746,000 viewers.

Week 1's UFL finale between the league champion Birmingham Stallions and [D.C. Defenders](https://uflnewshub.com/team/dc-defenders) averaged **395,000** viewers. The game peaked at 460,000 viewers.

**Takeaway:** Comparing the UFL's opening week numbers from this year to last would be an unfair equivalency. The 2025 UFL kickoff weekend encountered the heart of the storm, a competitive disadvantage that should subside in the next few weeks. Nevertheless, it's a disheartening start for a league trying to take its next step of growth, a significant one that saw a year ago.

## Week 2 UFL TV Schedule

From UFL News Hub. Please link to https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/ufl-2025-kickoff-weekend-tv-ratings-on-fox-and-espn when citing. More at https://uflnewshub.com/llms.txt