Cruhawk7975

Eh, they do have light blue in their color scheme at least. Though it would be nicer if they could touch it up a bit more at least. They’ve probably got bigger fish to fry though.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lions basically told Bates to stay in Detroit after the season’s end.

So based on that and other info, it seems like a reasonably safe bet to lock in other USFL teams with home sites: Michigan, Memphis, Canton, and Birmingham for now. I think New Orleans also has a reasonably decent chance of working out as well. Houston should return too, just a matter of its the Gamblers or the Roughnecks. my bet is that the league will "merge" both franchises. Arlington, DC, St. Louis, and San Antonio all make sense to return from the XFL side as well. It would suck to lose Seattle, but it makes sense if there's no other teams out west to serve as a rival/travel partner for them. Though i'd be a bit suprised if they pulled out of Florida altogether w/ Orlando despite their mediocre team/attendance.

I liked some of the names for the UFL, IMO the Omaha Nighthawks, Sacramento Mountain Lions, and Virginia Destroyers all had solid names and colors and uniforms. ( logos could’ve been a bit better though imo) AAF def had the best branding though hands down.

Throw in NOLA and Ohio and I think this will be how it turns out.

Good news: Shrine on Airline's field is in much better shape than Cashman's: https://images.app.goo.gl/4pEDfdHrB525Rov7A Bad News, its still a baseball stadium with a rugby/football field in it: https://images.app.goo.gl/5DGpjg2Pcbcz2jva6 But it looks like the city plans on converting it to a football/soccer/rugby configuration by 2025 that based on the renderings, looks like it would be the perfect sized venue for a UXFL team: https://www.nola.com/news/business/the-shrine-on-airline-could-get-a-major-facelift-in-metairie-here-is-the-latest/article_50ec24ec-d22d-11ec-95eb-4bae2e8bc112.html

I've been waiting on this to happen since before the start of the 2023 seasons for each. That being said, I'm glad to see both leagues do the sensible thing and join forces before suffocating each other. I wouldn't be suprised if they dropped to 12 teams for now, but I think 16 is doable if they're strategic in placing/moving teams to minimize unnecessary travel. No perfect way to divy it up, but I do think there's a way to do it with minimal disruption. Would love to see 4 divisions of 4 teams: "UXFL" Northeastern Conference East - NJ (USFL) - Philadelphia (USFL) - DC (XFL) - Orlando (XFL) North - Michigan (USFL) - Ohio (from USFL Houston) - Pittsburgh (USFL) - St Louis (XFL) "UXFL" Southwestern Conference South: - Birmingham (USFL) - Memphis (USFL) - New Orleans (USFL) - Houston (XFL) (can swap for San Antonio) West: - Seattle (XFL) - Arizona/Denver/San Diego/San Jose (from Vegas) (XFL) - Arlington (XFL) - San Antonio (XFL) (can swap for Houston) From here, I think you can do a relatively straightforward 14 - game schedule starting in February shortly after the Superbowl: - home and home with all 3 other division-mates (6 games) - play opposite conference division once (North plays East, South plays west) (4 games) - play half of each opposite conference division each year (alternate the other division teams every other season) - all teams get 2 bye weeks starting in week 6 of each season (roughly around the time march madness starts) and cycling through all teams twice so that each team has had at least 2 bye weeks by week 14 so that everyone has to play the last two weeks each season in week 15 and 16. From here, you can do a clean 8 team playoff using 1 of 3 formats: - Top two in each division, opening round of playoffs is between divisional opponents for a "division title" to play in for conference finals, then league championship - Top 4 in each conference (standard 1-4 bracket for each conference, winners play for league title ) - Open Playoff bracket, Top 8 make it regardless of division.

The Spring League (essentially the semi-official predecessor to USFL 2.0) used Rice Stadium in Houston as a hub in 2021. Think that might be eyed here as well should the league want to stay in Houston.

I personally think the Gamblers will be rebranded and moved to a different market ahead of season 3 for that reason. (My money is on either Tulsa as a revived "Oklahoma Outlaws", or a revival of the Tampa Bay Bandits if they can get a deal to play at Raymond James field), but I listed them here to illustrate the point. But the others do have realistic venue options: NOLA can play at either Yulman Stadium (Tulane), or just the lower bowl at the Superdome with dimmed lighting/tarps on the upper levels. Philly could go to either Franklin Field or Subaru park (assuming the Union are open to it) NJ can go to SHI Stadium (Rutgers) or Red Bull Arena (again assuming RBNY would be open to it). PITT can do either lower bowl only at Heinz field, or rebrand/relocate to another market (think Columbus could be one to keep an eye on at (fka) Mapfre, or potentially Chicago at Seakgeek Stadium)

No argument here, doesn't help the lack of a truly "local" team and cold/windy bad weather today either. Just gritting my teeth for them to make it to year 3 and then actually put PITT, PHI, NJ, NOLA,and HOU in their true home markets.

Eh, I wouldn't rule out SHI Stadium until we hear something more definitive on that front - they host Rutgers' Mens/Women's lacrosse teams and have hosted NJ state HS football championships in the past, but I don't think that would preclude the Generals from getting 5 weekend home dates between April and June - I'm sure Rutgers's Athletic Dept would be open to another revenue stream since they have a substantial debt to pay. Penn does host the Penn Relays in late April, but I do think the Stars could work as a tenant there with some flexibility/backloading for their Home Schedule. My bet is that Fox does not want to abandon 2 of the top 5 US TV markets that are also located close enough to each other to develop an actual organic rivalry as well, especially since both have multiple venue options on paper.

TLDR for the below - My 2024 USFL predictions: - HOU Gamblers either move into Rice Stadium or relocate to Tulsa, OK as the revived "Oklahoma Outlaws" - NOLA Breakers: 1) Yulman Stadium, or 2) Lower Bowl-only Superdome - PITT Maulers: 1) Heinz Field or 2) relocate to Columbus and play at Mapfre Stadium - PHI Stars: 1) Franklin Field, 2) Subaru Park - NJ Generals: 1)SHI Stadium , 2) Red Bull Arena ------- Houston could go a couple different directions since there are multiple available stadiums (Rice Stadium, PNC Field), but I don't think Houston will support 2 spring league teams and the Roughnecks beat the Gamblers to the punch. Given that, I think the Gamblers will relocate to Tulsa, OK as a revived "Oklahoma Outlaws" from USFL 1.0 (ala Tampa Bay -> Memphis this year). Tulsa has a decent sized stadium at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Tulsa was reported to be one of the top TV markets for the USFL last year despite not having a team nearby. - Tulsa has a metro area of about 1M and they can market the team statewide for TV ratings (including the 1.4M in the OKC metro), heck they wouldn't even need to change the color scheme of the team either. Pittsburgh might actually be well positioned to either: a) Move into Heinz Field (I refuse to call it by its current name) and tarp off the upper decks/strategically angle TV cameras to mitigate its huge size, or b), relocate to Columbus, OH and play at Mapfre stadium (Columbus Crew's old stadium, which coincidentally has the same color scheme) - using the year in Canton as a bridge to Columbus. NOLA should work fine as a full time home for the Breakers, pending a deal at one of: a) Yulman Stadium (Tulane's FB stadium) which is the perfect size for the team, of necessary, b) the lower bowl of the Superdome with upper levels tarped off/darkened Philly should be able to get one of: a) Franklin Field (first choice if they can schedule around Penn Relays), b) Subaru Park (assuming they can work out a deal with the MLS team). Either should be fine for what the USFL needs for year 3. If either is off the table, Lincoln Financial field with tarps on upper decks or Villanova Stadium with extra bleachers could work in theory - though neither ideal. NJ - Should be able to get one of Red Bull Arena, or SHI Stadium - the former being more preferable to attract NYC fans, the latter being more likely for actually getting a lease agreement. Rutgers' M/W lacrosse teams play most of their home games there too, but I think the Generals should be able to snag 5 weekends between April and June there for home games. Princeton could work in theory, though the university may not be as keen on hosting games since the stadium is in the center of campus. Avoid Metlife Stadium at all costs.

Agreed. And also to upgrade the USFL to “active” status from “defunct “ on the main site since the league has the rights to the original league’s history and IP now.

That would be great IMO, especially if it was say a 16-team league where each team had ties to 1 NFC team and 1 AFC to take on a certain # of players from each team on the roster.

TBH given the relatively niche market that Spring pro football is, I think a merger between both leagues is not inevitable but the most likely optimal outcome just from a market consolidation perspective. Would love to see a unified nationwide 16 team league form from it at some point.

If I were the Defenders social media team, I'd be requesting concessions sales data for the game by area/section bought from Audi Field/Levy (concessions partner) to put that on a graphic and send it out.

Apparently Paris just rebranded from Saints to Musketeers. Good move IMO. according to the ELF subreddit there might also be some traction around some of the premier teams in Scandinavian leagues like Finland or Sweden potentially joining in the near future. Supposedly reps for the Helsinki Roosters and Stockholm Mean Machines have been previously sighted at ELF games with league execs in I think either Berlin or Hamburg (Northern Germany based teams anyway). Biggest rumored names seem to be: Helsinki Roosters, Stockholm Mean Machines, Kuopio (Finland) Steelers, and Copenhagen Towers

San Diego also did well in the AAF for similar reasons. Birmingham did ok based off attendance in the AAF too (Memphis was meh), and the USFL Stallions seems to be doing fine - or about as well as could reasonably be expected given the USFL's odd overall setup. But It's definitely not just as simple an issue of NFL vs Non-NFL markets either since Seattle, Houston, and DC were the strongest markets in XFL 2020 not named St. Louis as well - even Dallas was ok there (i'll also contend NY was better than it looked - they only had 2 home games and one was skewed by near blizzard level temperatures hitting on short notice, playing at Metlife didnt help). I think it ultimately boils down to product/market fit + suitable venue + comparable market competition, all of which does require adequate marketing and local presence to build and maintain a fanbase. That's something both USFL 2.0 and XFL 3.0 have been lacking in IMO.

Omaha would be intriguing. Culturally speaking it seems to punch above its weight class for a city of its size. decent amount of large corporations and institutions there as well. IIRC the Nighthawks (UFL team from 2010-2011) drew over 20K for all of its home games except 1, and even that drew over 15k. The Omaha Mammoths of the FXFL were the only team in that league to have any attendance to speak of as well. Size wise, they rank 58th in the US at 970k per a 2021 Census Bureau estimate. Def small, but not totally unrealistic either considering USFL markets Memphis is 43rd at 1.3M, Birmingham is 50th at 1.114M, and NFL markets Buffalo is 49th at 1.115M,and New Orleans is 47th at 1.26M (Green Bay isnt even in the top 150 metro areas either) . Smallest XFL market by contrast: Las Vegas at #29 with over 2.2M people. But it could work TV wise if you count regional regional viewers as well (Lincoln NE just 2 hours away, Western Iowa, Southern South Dakota maybe? ) Only question would be a stadium as I'd think the NCAA would object to an XFL or USFL team playing at TD Ameritrade park right before the CWS. Union Omaha is trying to build a 10K seat stadium just north of downtown a few blocks away from a planned new streetcar line and a new office building - a bit small but could work if expandable. (they're applying for economic development grants from the state to cover 50% of the est. $100M total cost for the stadium and full academy/training complex) depending on how the 3 smaller market hubs do in 2023 (Canton, Birmingham, Memphis) part of me thinks the USFL might be willing to take a chance on smaller markets like Omaha if Fox thinks they can get ratings there both locally and nationally- After all, would anyone be that shocked if they say: moved the Houston Gamblers to Tulsa (#54 metro in US at 1.02M - one of the highest rating USFL markets in the league actually) and revived the Oklahoma Outlaws? I don't think an "Omaha Wranglers" team would be much more of a stretch.

Full Neilson ratings don't come out until tomorrow due to Presidents day delaying reporting. But I did see on twitter that apparently some local data is out. The St. Louis vs. San Antonio game outdrew the Daytona 500 in Saint Louis by nearly a 2:1 ratio.

My understanding has been that the USFL had a multiphase plan to scale the league up. IIRC, the MOU they signed with Birmingham outlined the rough trajectory: Year 1 - all 8 teams in Birmingham hub Year 2 - “up to 4” teams in Birmingham Year 3 - all teams in home markets Who knows if they’ll they’ll stay w the timeline, but right now they are on pace. Fox is the majority owner of the league and NBC does pay a rights fee to Fox for it. Both said they were satisfied with the USFLs overall metrics last year, and the USFL said last fall that they’ve already sold the majority of ad space for their games in 2023. It’s also worth mentioning that since they own it they can vertically integrate the league into Fox Corp itself and leverage the infrastructure and companies it already owns, along with synergy possibilities with FoxBet, Tubi, Fox Sports, Fox Broadcasting, and all of the affiliate TV stations owned by the company. Fox is already getting what it wants out of this league: relatively cheap sports programming that can draw competitive ( if not amazing) tv ratings and sell some ads during otherwise quiet timeslots that it outright controls. Different business model then other leagues, which given the fact that it’s back and growing it’s physical presence, just might work as long as they don’t hemorrhage money like AAF and XFL 2020 did.

I don't disagree (though I think the O.G. Maulers looked more like the Chicago Bears than this current version), but at least the colors are freed up for a future original expansion /rebrand. also someone colorswapped the maulers jerseys on a pic from the USFL official discord, and the results actually look pretty sharp IMO:

Think they're laying the groundwork to try to boost the fanbase for this/future seasons here. Based on recent events: Hired a new head coach with direct ties to the Steelers Changed colors to be more in-line with the rest of the city teams (say what you will, but Pittsburgh loves their colors) Announced this morning the Maulers (and the Generals) will play at a hub site in Canton, OH at the Hall of Fame stadium (where the championship game was last year - which they actually sold out despite none of the teams being nearby) - which FWIW is within a 2 hour drive of Pittsburgh This all seems to align to prime the team to fully move into Pittsburgh for the 2024 season. Seems like Fox is bullish on having a team there.

When that state is Texas, which worships football religiously, and has 2 markets that decently supported their teams from the 2020 iteration of the league, and the 3rd is one of the largest metro areas in the US without an NFL team , and the entire league is based out of a central hub in Dallas (Arlington technically), it makes a lot more sense. Could hint toward a longer term view with them with expansion too, keep a compact south division and eventually add two western (say, San Diego and San Jose/Denver/Arizona) and two eastern teams (say NY and Chicago/Atlanta for sake of argument) - swap Orlando for St. Louis as needed for 3 relatively geographically distinct divisions.

XFL trying waaaaaaaaaaay too hard to stand out and it looks like Under Armour's design team tried to open up the catalog as much as possible here, and neither does the league or the uniforms any favors. Makes the USFL's kinda milquetoast and same-y uniforms look clean in comparison.