USFL 2023 Season

[McCall]

14 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

By the way, the idea of using the name Canton Bulldogs is good.  But, unfortunately, that name is owned by the NFL.

They could probably use a different name with a bulldog logo, ala, the Cleveland Browns.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

3 minutes ago, McCall said:

18 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

By the way, the idea of using the name Canton Bulldogs is good.  But, unfortunately, that name is owned by the NFL.

They could probably use a different name with a bulldog logo, ala, the Cleveland Browns.

 

Maybe a name like the Mastiffs, with a logo that ostensibly is a mastiff but that looks pretty close to a bulldog.  This is similar to the case of the Baltimore Stallions, with a name used alongside a logo that had been intended for the team when it was called the Baltimore CFL Colts, but was nevertheless a logo that worked equally well for a team called the Stallions.

[4_tattoos]

Well... it looks like Red Bull Arena is now available for American football. At least for one off games.

 

https://hbcusports.com/2023/04/24/east-coast-hbcu-football-classic-to-feature-grambling-state-and-hampton/?fbclid=IwAR3iruCaia50zC4q0xufXTn0PExgKy02kFZParA1DV__3kwlQO28mNE-Zh8

 

[GDAWG]

54 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

Well... it looks like Red Bull Arena is now available for American football. At least for one off games.

 

https://hbcusports.com/2023/04/24/east-coast-hbcu-football-classic-to-feature-grambling-state-and-hampton/?fbclid=IwAR3iruCaia50zC4q0xufXTn0PExgKy02kFZParA1DV__3kwlQO28mNE-Zh8

 

 

If it works, it could be more than that.  

[Red Comet]

2 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Well... it looks like Red Bull Arena is now available for American football. At least for one off games.

 

https://hbcusports.com/2023/04/24/east-coast-hbcu-football-classic-to-feature-grambling-state-and-hampton/?fbclid=IwAR3iruCaia50zC4q0xufXTn0PExgKy02kFZParA1DV__3kwlQO28mNE-Zh8

 

I’m more surprised that they didn’t play this at Philadelphia Union’s stadium. Feels like it would be more successful there. 

[4_tattoos]

3 hours ago, Red Comet said:

I’m more surprised that they didn’t play this at Philadelphia Union’s stadium. Feels like it would be more successful there. 

There's been HBCU classic games played in NJ (Giants Stadiums then Metlife) for decades. They're just playing in a smaller stadium now.

[MJWalker45]

https://www.al.com/sports/2023/05/usfl-files-trademark-application-for-dallas-stallions.html

Interesting that one of the names they're moving to protect us the Dallas Stallions. The one team with actual fans showing up has been the Stallions in Birmingham. Interesting to see Austin and San Antonio as options too. The funniest part of that is the Austin Wranglers would be reboots of two teams, as there was an Austin Wranglers arena league team. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

3 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

https://www.al.com/sports/2023/05/usfl-files-trademark-application-for-dallas-stallions.html

Interesting that one of the names they're moving to protect us the Dallas Stallions. The one team with actual fans showing up has been the Stallions in Birmingham. Interesting to see Austin and San Antonio as options too. The funniest part of that is the Austin Wranglers would be reboots of two teams, as there was an Austin Wranglers arena league team. 

 

The league characterises this as "legal housekeeping"; and I do believe that the move to trademark these names does not indicate a desire to move any teams.

 

An interesting question arises with the name San Antonio Gunslingers.  That name is currently used by a team in the NAL.  If the USFL successfully trademarks the name, would the NAL team have to stop using it?  (Side note: I hope so, because I would like that name not to be used by anyone.)

[MJWalker45]

5 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

The league characterises this as "legal housekeeping"; and I do believe that the move to trademark these names does not indicate a desire to move any teams.

 

An interesting question arises with the name San Antonio Gunslingers.  That name is currently used by a team in the NAL.  If the USFL successfully trademarks the name, would the NAL team have to stop using it?  (Side note: I hope so, because I would like that name not to be used by anyone.)

I think that's where the USFL might lose. The team has been around 3 years now. But if the NAL goes belly up no one else is probably using the name. 

[Cujo]

With the XFL season over, giving the USFL a look today. Maybe 50 fans in the stands today, so artificial crowd noise is piped in on every play. But still not cranked up enough to drown out the drones. The constant buzzing is maddening.

[Sykotyk]

3 hours ago, Cujo said:

With the XFL season over, giving the USFL a look today. Maybe 50 fans in the stands today, so artificial crowd noise is piped in on every play. But still not cranked up enough to drown out the drones. The constant buzzing is maddening.

The drones are really my biggest complaint about a USFL broadcast. If not for them, I actually favor their production of games over the XFL. But not with the drones buzzing around.

 

Also, agreed about the crowd noise. They do have the crowds miked up, so they're using that I think as their barometer to how much and when crowd noise is added. So it just makes anything inaudible as a low roar.  Since I doubt they have someone manually changing things for each play.

 

But they messed up their scheduling. These games need to be true doubleheaders on one ticket where you'll see some carry-over from one game to the next. People aren't going to buy single game tickets for a team that doesn't actually represent their city. Yesterday should've been 2 Detroit games and today the two Birmingham games. I know maybe Mothers day they figured just shove the games out there and not worry about crowds. But, it does look bad when there's a stadium shot and it's just a few dozen people

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

The drones are really my biggest complaint about a USFL broadcast. If not for them, I actually favor their production of games over the XFL. But not with the drones buzzing around.

 

Also, agreed about the crowd noise. They do have the crowds miked up, so they're using that I think as their barometer to how much and when crowd noise is added. So it just makes anything inaudible as a low roar.  Since I doubt they have someone manually changing things for each play.

 

But they messed up their scheduling. These games need to be true doubleheaders on one ticket where you'll see some carry-over from one game to the next. People aren't going to buy single game tickets for a team that doesn't actually represent their city. Yesterday should've been 2 Detroit games and today the two Birmingham games. I know maybe Mothers day they figured just shove the games out there and not worry about crowds. But, it does look bad when there's a stadium shot and it's just a few dozen people

They did this last year and still had low numbers because fans were expected to be there for close to 8 hours depending on start times for games. And it looks like Memphis, Birmingham, and Michigan are the only teams that have actually decent numbers, though Memphis didn't have them today as the away team at their home stadium.

[Sykotyk]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

They did this last year and still had low numbers because fans were expected to be there for close to 8 hours depending on start times for games. And it looks like Memphis, Birmingham, and Michigan are the only teams that have actually decent numbers, though Memphis didn't have them today as the away team at their home stadium.

New Orleans v. Memphis was at Birmingham.

[MJWalker45]

8 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

New Orleans v. Memphis was at Birmingham.

Ok. That makes sense then. 

[DCarp1231]

Decided to look at regular season records to compare USFL and XFL-

 

The XFL collectively finished 40-40 (.500) and 20-20 (.500) through 5 weeks. The USFL now through 5 weeks is sitting at 20-20 (.500) Disregard

 

The best regular season team in the XFL was the DC Defenders (9-1, 5-0 WK5), while the best team currently in the USFL is the New Orleans Breakers (4-1)

 

50% of the XFL finished over .500. Of those teams, none were below 7 wins. By Week 5, 62% were over .500 with at least 3 wins.
 

Currently, 62% of USFL teams are below .500. This includes the entire North Division at 2-3 each.

 

 

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, DCarp1231 said:

Decided to look at regular season records to compare USFL and XFL-

 

The XFL collectively finished 40-40 (.500) and 20-20 (.500) through 5 weeks. The USFL now through 5 weeks is sitting at 20-20 (.500)

 

The best regular season team in the XFL was the DC Defenders (9-1, 5-0 WK5), while the best team currently in the USFL is the New Orleans Breakers (4-1)

 

50% of the XFL finished over .500. Of those teams, none were below 7 wins. By Week 5, 62% were over .500 with at least 3 wins.
 

Currently, 62% of USFL teams are below .500. This includes the entire North Division at 2-3 each.

At least one team should make it above .500 in the North, but time will tell. We could end up with the same complaint we had about Arlington if they don't start picking up wins. 

[DCarp1231]

22 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

At least one team should make it above .500 in the North, but time will tell. We could end up with the same complaint we had about Arlington if they don't start picking up wins. 

I just looked the 2022 USFL season.
 

The league wide regular season finish was also 40-40. 50%(4) of teams finished above .500 with no less than 6 wins. 9-1 (2) & 6-4 (2). Disregard

 

The North is doing worse this year than last. While at least one team will likely be above .500 at season’s end, production level has seemed to drop.

 

EDIT: I guess the only overall regular season records don’t matter and are a moot point

[B-Rich]

On 4/24/2023 at 9:29 PM, 4_tattoos said:

There's been HBCU classic games played in NJ (Giants Stadiums then Metlife) for decades. They're just playing in a smaller stadium now.

 

And before that, (old) Yankee Stadium:

 

 

For many years, it was called the Whitney M. Young Classic, then became the New York Urban League/Whitney M. Young Classic.  The first of these match-ups  (the one in 1968, re: the program cover above) was the first "black  college (as they referred to it back then) football game ever televised", and the earliest games drew over 60,000 (!) attendees...

 

Whitney M. Young/ Urban League Classic

[GDAWG]

It remains to be seen if the Breakers, Stars, Generals and Gamblers will actually play in the home cities that they are originally intended to.  

[McCall]

13 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

It remains to be seen if the Breakers, Stars, Generals and Gamblers will actually play in the home cities that they are originally intended to.  

And Maulers, too.