The TV ratings are in for Week 3 of the 2025 UFL season. The second year of the XFL-USFL merged league opened to modest viewership numbers in its opening week. Week 1’s average across four UFL games was 559,000 viewers. Week 2’s UFL ratings average was 602,500 viewers. Would the league see more improvement with three of its four games on major broadcast network television?
UFL 2025 Week 3 TV Ratings (Average Viewership)
Friday, April 11
- Arlington Renegades vs. Birmingham Stallions – 8 p.m. ET (FOX): 682,000 viewers (0.17 18-49 demo rating) The peak viewership for Friday night's game was 856k between the 8:15 and 8:30 pm ET window.
- Saturday, April 12
- Houston Roughnecks vs. Memphis Showboats – 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPN): 295,000 viewers
- Sunday, April 13
- San Antonio Brahmas vs. Michigan Panthers – noon ET (ABC): 719,000 viewers
- DC Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks – 3 p.m. ET (ABC): 967,000 viewers
Sunday's Week 3 UFL finale on ABC between the Battlehawks and Defenders saw a peak viewership of 1.4 million viewers. The 967,000 average makes it the most watched UFL game of the early season.
The overall ratings average for Week 3 in the UFL is 665K, which is up from last weekend, but the number is bogged down by the 295k showing on Cable. It's worth noting that TNT’s Sunday NHL doubleheader averaged 183,000 viewers.
The UFL broadcast network average in week 3 was 789k, that's more along the lines of what modern day spring pro football leagues typically achieve in premium broadcasting windows. In 2024, the UFL, including the league's championship game averaged 945,000 viewers on FOX and ABC, with six games crossing the one million viewer mark.
Sunday's ABC UFL game had some stiff competition. The Clippers-Warriors NBA regular season finale averaged 1.55 million viewers on ESPN. In an earlier window, the Pistons and Bucks on ESPN averaged 797,000 viewers. The true mastery of sports audiences this past weekend came from the Masters on CBS, which hit a seven year high with nearly 13 million viewers.
The UFL has all four of their games in Week 4 on broadcast network television, with FOX airing three. However the games will be airing during Easter weekend, against formidable competition in the NBA/NHL playoffs, and WrestleMania on Saturday and Sunday.
The UFL has some ground to gain in matching what they accomplished last season, where the league outpaced the XFL and USFL ratings performances in 2023. After three weeks in 2024, the UFL average viewership was 911,583. The 2025 UFL is roughly 610,000 viewers. However, the increase in ABC and FOX telecasts should help increase that number as it has the last two weeks.
UFL Week 4 Schedule
- Memphis Showboats vs. Michigan Panthers: Friday, April 18 at 8:00 PM ET, on FOX.
- St. Louis Battlehawks vs. Arlington Renegades: Saturday, April 19 at 12:30 PM ET, on ABC.
- Birmingham Stallions vs. Houston Roughnecks: Saturday, April 19 at 7:00 PM ET, on FOX.
- San Antonio Brahmas vs. DC Defenders: Sunday, April 20 at 5:00 PM ET, on FOX.