David Dykeman, the director of football operations for the United Football League was recently interviewed by CTInsider, a local Connecticut publication. In it he talks about the current status of the UFL and its expansion plans in 2026.
Dykeman talks about the UFL adding two teams later this year.
“We are in great markets and if we look at areas that we feel we can support a team and wants a team, it is something we will consider. We will be announcing later this year a ninth and 10th team for expansion in the 2026 season. Overall, we are in a great place and I am super confident that we will be able to continue to put a great product on the field.”
This article comes on the heals of UFL Insider Mike Mitchell’s reporting on week one of the UFL seasons TV ratings which here down across the board. We assume this interview took place last week and came out today. No word on how the UFL feels about the leagues week one ratings.
Dykeman talks about his relationship with UFL CEO and President Russ Brandon.
“Russ (Brandon) and I have a lot of similar qualities. We just connected well. He is one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life. I feel very lucky to be in this position. He saw something in me that he thought I could help with getting the league off the ground.”
Dykeman cut his teeth in the football world as the former dean of students and head football coach at Cheshire Academy, a highly competitive prep school from 2014 to 2023. Three years ago he joined Brandon in the XFL.
The article goes on to talk about how he got his start in the football world and more.
Back in November the league put out a press release talking about expansion. But never officially announced how many teams and when.
The United Football League today announced it has officially launched its first expansion process. The UFL is accepting proposals from prospective markets looking to bring spring football to their communities and be a part of the growth of the sport.
UFL executive vice president Daryl Johnston talk to USA TODAY two weeks ago about expansion but never gave any specifics. This is the first time a league official got into UFL expansion details publicly.
We have been reporting for sometime the two locations would be Seattle, with the return of the Sea Dragons and potentially Columbus Ohio. Of all the trademarks the USFL Enterprises still owns related to the old Spring League, the ‘Aviators’ still remains. Columbus Aviators does have a nice ring to it.
4 Comments
by Ken Granito
I am glad we are talking expansion. I read somewhere that someone was saying that the league has to expand as part of the merger, but I am not going to focus on that. Investing in the league is excellent. Right now less than 1/2 the country is covered regionally by the league. I understand there are expenses working with some states such as California and New York that will not be overcome by the revenue that will be generated from those states. Again for those states, I suggest you getting outside ownership to foot the bills for those teams. I have been researching expansion sites for some time. I will offer my thoughts on expansion. I have done this many times before, but since I consistently come up with different things the landscape changes a bit. As the league has proved in the past the league needs to have more teams in the North than they do to help allow for a better Championship Game option. They literally cannot have it in St. Louis every year. It will get old.
1. Seattle Dragons/Sea Dragons. I will start here. I am not sure this is the best place, but I will start here being that so many people seem to feel this is the best fit. With a naming pattern that matches great with the Kracken and the Mariners the Sea Dragons/Dragons work with either one you choose. I am sold that the attendance has been better than competitive with teams that are more widely attended than the rest 3/4s of the league and with 755k has 3.5 times the amount of people as Birmingham. However, they currently have baseball and football teams. I tend to choose a locale without major league baseball teams. Having a team on the West coast would help toward giving the league the range it is looking for.
2 New Jersey Generals: I have no choice but to question why the UFL does not have the Generals. The Generals would have more fans in the seats than the Showboats and Roughnecks combined and likely come in 2nd to the Battlehawks. There are three Stadiums that hold real possibilities. SHI Stadium has 2.5 million people worth of families in the 3 counties that surround SHI. Just in those 3 counties that is more than 12 and 1/2 times the amount of possible patrons. New Jersey would help give the league the range it is looking for including tapping some of the New York market with regards to television. We can also see about Sports Illustrated Stadium bringing the size the league would be looking for, but even as it grows, maybe on a night that doesn’t fit with soccer we can try Met Life Stadium to see how that would go. There is also Princeton Stadium. Though closer to western New Jersey, the state is still quite densely populated and would still bring much other population with it. The stadium is beautiful with 27k fans and would show up really nicely on TV. I think you would gain much of the TV audience from New Jersey, however we might lose some of the New York audience. The thing that is so funny about New York and New Jersey is that New York thinks of New Jersey as it’s suburb so New York still does follow, but it needs to be the New Jersey Generals and not the Guardians, because New Jersey strongly wants their own team. And remember although the Yankees and Mets have teams in the tri-state area, when including traffic they are 1 1/2 to 2+ hours away from where I live in Monmouth, New Jersey. Just a thought.
3. Columbus, Ohio; The Columbus Bulls make a ton of sense. The could use the “branding” of the Jacksonville Bulls. With Columbus having 900k and rodeo this will make a fine place to play. Historic Crew Stadium will work as a venue, but should really have top billing as this will be a major sport in a major city. The 20k stadium may be sold out with the city needing to grow.
4. Charlotte Wildcats: Taking off from the LA Wildcats the Bobcats in the region fit just nicely. The 900k+ in Charlotte would do very well in the Jerry Richardson Stadium. It may only seat 15k, but will look great on TV as this is a very attractive stadium.
5. Oklahoma Outlaws: This will do fine in Skelly Stadium. Maybe a little warm in the May/June you can have night games and earlier season games. As it holds 30k this should be a nice size for the stadium. Though only 413k in population it did fairly well in attendance with the original USFL and their payroll was one of the worst in the league. I remember there being many a rainy day in the original USFL. Maybe we could get Doug Williams involved.
6. Colorado Springs/Denver: Either work, but wondering if they would let us use the Air Force Stadium whether it would work. The Rockies are the baseball team in Denver and although there is a You could either use the Gold as the team basis or I have an ever better idea that would really work for marketing. The UFL would need to call me directly.
7. Ogden, Utah: Only 40 minutes from Salt Lake City the Utah Guardians. The spirit of people of Utah love the wilderness and are guardians of all that is good in the West. Weber State has Stewart Stadium which holds 17K. Though only with highs of around 72 degrees in May Ogden should be a great place to watch a game. Between Ogden and Salt Lake there are only about 300k in population. Maybe some Utes fans from Logan can find themselves helping out or maybe fans from Boise taking the occasional trip to catch a game and make it a long weekend.
8. San Diego Squadron: I have used this many times and many other have supported them. Snapdragon has an awesome stadium, usually mild in temperature and with a missing NFL team, this would seem the dream. Even with a cool nickname. The Squad. I am told there is a cost for doing business in California that would be a deterrent for the league to do business here.
9. Oakland Invaders: There is a stadium and people who need a team to root for. All that and other larger cities right around the corner. I am told there is a cost for doing business in California that would be a deterrent for the league to do business here.
10. Sacramento Wildcats: Hornet Stadium is a great size for a UFL stadium and Sacramento is one of the largest cities in California. Also not so far away from other cities that they could not visit. I am told there is a cost for doing business in California that would be a deterrent for the league to do business here.
Don’t forget the Philadelphia Stars in Subaru Park and the occasional game at Franklin Field or if Columbus does not work out the Canton Bulls. I have drive around that area. That works too. The climate is excellent and they have a GREAT stadium. The 2022 USFL Championship game was awesome, but not so much the 2023 one and the Generals and Maulers were almost always empty. I wonder if the Canton Bulls would do better. Think about it. Canton loves its football. I imagine people would come in from all over, maybe even Cleveland. I’ve heard talk of Louisville and a new home with no tenants or professional teams. That sounds like a place. The idea is that fans see things being grim. The games were poorly attended last week and let’s not get into the ratings. As the gameplay improves so will the ratings. When you discuss attendance remember that teams that have MLB squads. Good luck. I hope you enjoy the additional fans and remember winning a Championship game with 10 teams is 25% more of an accomplishment than with 8 teams making the league mean more. The investment in that is priceless.
by Frank Dux
Expansion talks when the league is clearly floundering? Why go back to Seattle when that franchise was chopped during the merger? Why will that city work this time? Adding more teams only means losing more money, which this ownership group has already lost piles of.
by Gary Winter
More market share, more money. It hasn’t got a lot to do attendance.
by Rick Stone Mason
If the UFL really wants to thrive without financial help from the NFL they need to start selling off teams to individual owners. Simple as that. I don’t expect it to be like the 80’s USFL but it could help a lot with big time business owners and their money. A second lawsuit against the NFL for running a monopoly might pay off much better than the what happened to the original USFL. This time the now UFL has kept spending mostly in check and can’t be seen as a major reason for it’s own demise!