The UFL’s TV ratings average after 8 weeks of the 2025 season is approximately 612,000 viewers per game across FOX, ABC, ESPN, and FS1. This reflects a 26% decrease from the 2024 regular season average of 816,000 viewers per game. However, Week 8 was the league’s strongest showing, averaging 712,000 viewers per game, driven by a high-performing game on ABC with 973,000 viewers. The Sunday, 5/18, ABC showing was the UFL’s most-viewed game in 2025, peaking at over 1.3 million viewers in its final hour.
However, entering the final two weeks of the regular season with playoff seeding and matchups already determined, could the UFL maintain peak interest in its games with very little at stake? Or would rubbing shoulders with another premium sporting event, such as the UFL did with the NBA playoffs on ABC, help boost viewership for a second consecutive week?
UFL 2025 Season: Week 9 TV Ratings On FOX/ABC
Friday night’s FOX game on May 23, featuring the St. Louis BattleHawks and San Antonio Brahmas, averaged 540,000 viewers, down from the 573,000 average on May 16 for the San Antonio and Memphis overtime shootout. The Battlehawks-Brahmas game on Friday night peaked at 614,000 viewers during the game’s open.
FOX’s Friday Night UFL window is averaging 609,000 viewers after nine weeks, with a high point of 690,000 viewers in Week 1 and a low point of 467,000 viewers in Week 5, during the NFL Draft.
For the second consecutive week, the UFL had two games simultaneously, this time unintentionally due to a rain delay that pushed back the Arlington-Memphis game to a 3 p.m. ET start. The Michigan Panthers-Birmingham Stallions game, which aired nationally on ABC at 3 ET, averaged 966,000 viewers. The game peaked at 1.2 million viewers from 5:45 pm to 6 pm.
It was the 4th most-watched game this season, giving ABC 6 of the seven most-watched UFL games of 2025.
Sunday afternoon’s FOX UFL game featuring the DC Defenders and Houston Roughnecks averaged 1,348,000 viewers. The most watched UFL game of the 2025 season, thanks to the Indy 500 boost.
The highmark FOX number for the UFL this season was greatly aided by the 109th Indianapolis 500, which achieved an average viewership of 7.05 million, marking the highest TV audience for the race in 17 years (since 2008, when it averaged 7.245 million on ABC). Viewership peaked at 8.4 million during the 4:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET window, as Alex Palou secured his first Indy 500 victory.
The FOX number on Sunday is not surprising; the artificial boost from prominent sporting events has aided Spring Pro Football in the past. See the USFL’s 2.3 million viewer average during the 2023 season on NBC, thanks to a great assist from the Kentucky Derby. In contrast, the USFL average rating in 2023 was just over 600,000 viewers per game.
A strong Saturday ABC number, coupled with the FOX Sunday Indy 500 boost, gives the UFL its most watched weekend of the 2025 season, with an average of 915,000 viewers.
1 Comment
by 4th&long
Mike that’s 951k Avg not 915k. Massive w/e for UFL!!! We’ll take it!
Once again we prove that StL and strong in-person attendance has no barring on viewership. People need to get over that. Mkt size and good game likely have more impact. As does Network and time plus competition
The Friday game was going against NBA Conf finals and NHL playoffs, if OKC beats Minn during the week, then this Friday no NBA. Similar with NHL games. And DC vs StL with combined over 3% Household market share may help.
This could be a good test for Friday sans NBA/NHL.
The UFL needs to do a better job listing game times/dates and network on Social Media and its website. You’d think no games were playing this week. Get a grip UFL and list the games everywhere.