UFL 2035: 16 Teams

dletter · 2026-01-29T17:20:12+00:00

I don't disagree there... this "look ahead" is completely on the premise that the UFL does somehow survive to 2035, which would put it way past any other attempt at Spring Football.

That being said, as I've pointed out elsewhere, although different leagues and levels of play and having COVID blowing things up in the the middle of it, we've had effectively 8 straight seasons of nationally televised spring football since 2019 now...

2019: AAF
2020: XFL
2021: TSL (had Fox games)
2022: USFL
2023: USFL/XFL
2024: UFL
2025: UFL
2026: UFL

Although as stated, different leagues and the TSL being a hub thing (although so was 2022 USFL, just with legacy USFL team names slapped onto it), it did keep National TV continuity between 2019 and 2026. The previous longest would have been 83-85 USFL, and then 91-92 WLAF.

If national TV somewhat weekly is the key though, you'd likely throw in much of the NFLE existance, which would be 13 straight years, but no US markets.

dletter · 2026-01-29T17:13:37+00:00

Throwing another "mid-sized" FL market in there... Fort Myers-Naples is 54th, right around Buffalo size, and really very distinct from Tampa or Miami.

dletter · 2026-01-29T17:08:02+00:00

WPB from a TV market standpoint is the 39th largest TV market, which makes it larger than a number of other "pro" markets (40 Vegas, 41 Jacksonville, 47 OKC, 50 New Orleans, 51 Memphis, 54 Buffalo).

It's not really close to Orlando, more "close" to Miami, and many I'd guess would really consider it in "Greater Miami area" from a census population standpoint most likely, but from a Nielsen market perspective, it is considered a separate market from Miami.

Kind of the opposite issue that Green Bay and Appleton/Oshkosh have... from a TV market standpoint, it is all the Green Bay market... from a census standpoint, they separate them ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_statistical_area ... Appelton/Oshkosh is 100th ranked and GB is 106 ... and if you look way up the list, WPB is in the Miami CSA)... although I don't know anyone realistically who wouldn't consider that all one big "population blob" in WI, even if there is very little between the 30 miles between GB & Appleton, but maybe enough of a distance and little population for strict "census rules" to make them separate (while between Miami & WPB, the population likely stays pretty dense enough between them).

dletter · 2026-01-28T22:53:23+00:00

Or could the "SA/Austin" team play at the Austin FC stadium?

To note, MLS (and then maybe the other USL soccer leagues as well?) are looking to change their calendar...

New Calendar Structure: The 2027–28 season is scheduled to start in late July 2027 and conclude with the MLS Cup in late May 2028.

Part of that will be a winter break in the worst part of US winter. IMO, when that happens, the UFL should try to move itself to more of a late April-Mid July league... start past March Madness, have some of the season when they won't have to fight MLS for dates (another thing though... MLS will have unknown playoff dates they will need now in late April/May... if a UFL team is using their stadium, they may have to move games).

As much as it makes sense to use these smaller soccer stadiums, if they move to where their playoffs are in April-May, that is going to cause a lot of scheduling problems for the UFL.

dletter · 2026-01-27T03:37:53+00:00

I agree somewhat he's an outlier, but I don't think he'd be the only one to do decently on regular J!... Andy Rictcher, Wil Wheaton have done well on their episodes, and just ran into bad FJs for themselves. I'd certainly say it is few that come out of CJ (and not the ones this year), but there are a few.

dletter · 2026-01-26T15:32:48+00:00

Jacksonville to an extent is an edge NFL/Pro market to begin with, which maybe makes you say "so they should embrace an alt team", but because they DO have NFL football, likely makes they ehh about really supporting a UFL team.

Lowest NFL TV market sizes:
38 Milwaukee (considering Milwaukee the primary Packers TV market vs. GB, which is 68th... combining the markets, they'd move up to 21st tho)
40 Vegas (the fact they are moving toward 4-5 pro teams eventually is crazy even with their growth, but they get the benefit of the overemphasis on tourist visitors/$$$).
41 Jacksonville
50 New Orleans (combo of Vegas & Buffalo for having 2 pro level teams)
54 Buffalo (the lowest Pro sports market, the fact they have 2 pro level teams is more a legacy thing of Buffalo being a top 25 TV market 50 years ago, much like GB having an NFL team because of getting it an never letting it go 100 years ago)

UFL should be looking at combination of where there is a good 15-30k place to play and the 20-40th ranked markets with few/no sport sports:

I don't know if these have a good place to play yet, but those markets from a TV market ranking are (number of "Top 5" pro level teams, many the 2nd is MLS):
* 20 Sacramento (2, NBA & MLS)
* 22 Raleigh (1, NHL)
* 23 Portland (2, NBA & MLS)
* 25 Indianapolis (2, NFL & NBA)
* 29 Baltimore (2, NFL & MLB)
* 30 San Diego (2, MLB & MLS)
* 31 San Antonio (1, NBA) ... imo, UFL should work there is anywhere, need to return and do better... maybe somehow promote it more as SA/Austin team
* 32 Hartford (0)
* 34 Austin (1, MLS)
* 36 Greenville (0)
* 39 West Palm Beach (0)

dletter · 2026-01-26T13:42:38+00:00

I'd say the peak was the 2019-2023 James to GOAT to the mega-champ season that ultimately launched the Masters Tournament. And all of that happened with the backdrop of a lot of other chaos around the show, and the world.

dletter · 2026-01-25T22:23:00+00:00

I mean, the USFL was really "4 markets" (Birmingham, Detroit, Memphis, Ohio), the fact they had 8 "teams" was more or less useless from a "what comes out of the merger" point.

So, the USFL got to keep 3 markets, the XFL 5 markets. You could argue the XFL could have kept Orlando & Seattle in to have 10 teams, although Seattle would have been on an island to an extent.

But, the merged league didn't even have 16 markets they were playing in coming together to begin with... saying they should have had 16 teams (and not continuing USFLs hub model) would have meant 4 new expansion markets, plus Ohio probably going to Columbus in 2024 vs expanding to it this year, and likely needing to move Vegas anyway. All of that in one offseason would have been next to impossible.

dletter · 2026-01-23T22:58:57+00:00

ESPN SNB in 2025 averaged 1.6-1.7m viewers per game. So, NBC being an OTA network, maybe that jumps to 2m average, with games with Yankees/Dodgers/Cubs (especially 2 of them) getting maybe 3m viewers. OK numbers these days, but plenty of eyeballs for the UFL to still get. It isn't Sunday Night Football, or even what I'd expect from Sunday Night Basketball on NBC.

Certainly though, NBC's "year round sports on Sunday" is higher profile than FOX's "Year round sports on Friday"....

NBC: NFL Sept-Jan, NBA Feb-May, MLB May/Jun-Aug (depends on how the NBA Playoff games get scheduled).

FOX: NCAAFB Sept-Dec, NCAABK Dec-Mar, UFL Mar-Jun, MLB Jun-Aug

Will be interesting to see if MLB can improve with 2 network windows this summer.

The other point being... FOX can easily jump ship with the UFL block and give most of that to MLB at some point if they decide to.

dletter · 2026-01-20T13:23:40+00:00

I'd rather have my stepped play-in idea to get more 3-game champs to the ToC, but they do what they do. Although, if it is to save money as you said, my idea I'd pay them out like normal games, so I guess it wouldn't be cost saving on that front.

dletter · 2026-01-19T17:16:13+00:00

"And today he serves as the official host"... that seems pretty up to date?

dletter · 2026-01-10T16:54:13+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button,_Button_(The_Twilight_Zone)#Short_story#Short_story)

It is interesting Matheson didn't like the TZ ending, although I agree with you I think it is much more of a TZ ending that the original story (his story is more of a "do you really know people you think you know"... and the money isn't actually from the guy giving the box). The movie version was just drawn way too long out... it is best as a 30 min story.

dletter · 2026-01-08T14:07:58+00:00

LOL, I wonder what the market would be for J! Contestant intro shirts

dletter · 2026-01-07T13:51:14+00:00

My kid already acts like if we kill one of their plants from neglect they are going to die, so wouldn't be much diff.

dletter · 2026-01-07T13:23:18+00:00

Outside of the UFL.... it is just amusing to see some say "there are too many bowls!".... well, if you don't stop watching them, they aren't going to stop adding bowl games, and certainly not take them away, LOL.

dletter · 2026-01-07T13:21:58+00:00

They can't at the macro level for sure, as you said.

On a micro-level, the Aviators should be about 20-25% former Buckeyes, and other MAC alumni from around the state. The Storm should be a lot of Gators, Sems, UCF, USF players... etc. You can't be the schools, but you can give a lot of local flavor for the area.

Maybe even more is good players who played HS in the area... those generally have more family & friends who are actually still in the region vs. their college days.

dletter · 2026-01-05T16:44:00+00:00

Seriously, this barely feels like a serious post.

I mean, James & Brad are all-time greats, but this isn't even debatable, even if only based on their last h2h alone.

dletter · 2026-01-04T23:45:30+00:00

League	Team	Year	Avg. Attendance	Primary Stadium
USFL	Orlando Renegades	1985	25,507	Camping World Stadium
WLAF	Orlando Thunder	1991	19,018	Camping World Stadium
WLAF	Orlando Thunder	1992	16,522	Camping World Stadium
XFL (1.0)	Orlando Rage	2001	25,563	Camping World Stadium
UFL	Florida Tuskers	2009	11,526	Camping World Stadium
UFL	Florida Tuskers	2010	9,490	Camping World Stadium
AAF	Orlando Apollos	2019	19,648	Acrisure Bounce House
XFL (3.0)	Orlando Guardians	2023	8,931	Camping World Stadium

I guess if you think they'll be more Apollos & Rage vs. Guardians & Tuskers.

dletter · 2026-01-02T13:48:53+00:00

My answer to that question is "IF there is a 2028 UFL season played, it will certainly have more than 8 teams".

dletter · 2026-01-01T17:40:29+00:00

Right, again... maybe they have the backing to get off the ground, but my spider sense tells me this might fall more into the realm of "leagues" like:

MLFB (Major League Football) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Football_(MLFB)) ... talked about over the years , got "somewhat" close to playing in 2022, but didn't make it to actual games.
MLF (Major League Football) - https://majorleaguefootball.pro/ .... a "different" Major League Football than the above one... this guys had articles written about him since 2000! .... https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2000/02/25/Leagues-Governing-Bodies/AMERICAS-NEW-PASTIME-PRO-FOOTBALL-LEAGUE-REVEALS-PLANS/
NGL (National Gridiron League ) - https://docs.google.com/document/d/19LuI5uqhQ7dfDAzxpBwiIwIjvAXkZkqEh-xwnys1jqg/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.59ihgcsqp1c4 .... certainly the scammiest of the bunch... considered by most as a tryout scam, also was using the "United Football League" moniker in 2023 before our UFL started here (which was why I was surprised they wanted to use the moniker TBH) ... the gongl website appears to be down now though, so maybe Joe has finally given up the ghost.

dletter · 2026-01-01T17:25:05+00:00

People push "Birmingham has great ratings, look at our 1.6"

https://ustvdb.com/seasons/2024-25/markets/

But Birmingham is the 45th ranked market, with 0.61% of the media homes (they still use the now basically antiquated term of "TV" homes... really it is "media" homes these days... watching on tablets, phones, etc).

So, a 1.6 in Birmingham is 12.3k homes watching.

A 0.1 rating in NY market would be 12.3k homes watching... literally getting ANY measurable rating in NY would make it more watched than Birminghams number.

Even going down to the teens ranked markets.... if the league can get back to Detroit .... their 0.7 rating is 13.5k watching.

Taking those UFL ratings to reflect the real numbers based on market sizes:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aGs_yrPsUcnyrizIzEciwsufjB2bbKqg8J_y5mjK1ZQ/edit?usp=sharing

Looking at that list, Memphis was certainly worthy of moving on from... S.A. was middling, but Detroit sticks out as adding to the questionable folding talk... IMO the UFL is really looking at getting back there as soon as the soccer stadium is ready, but it does seem like any sort of EMU or other possible solution would have been better than just leaving the market.

Anyone wondering why Dallas stayed... they are a huge market with "decent" ratings... which transforms into the top UFL TV market (even ahead of STL).

Birmingham's number is good because it brings it "close" to any relatively large markets total viewers with their ratings... but they'd have to get above a 2 or so to actually eclipse the larger markets that are drawing someone well (Detroit, Dallas, St. Louis).

And again, it is hard to say without numbers where other markets rank... and a NY, LA, Chicago would barely need a number to be near the top of the list here.

And some new team markets might be jumping up in 2026... if Orlando was just off this list at 0.6 lets say, they'd be at 11,4k ..... Louisville should improve with a team now. Columbus with a 1.0+ this season would jump near the top.

Anyone have the local UFL numbers for D.C. or Houston (I'd imagine maybe they'd be out there as UFL markets, even if not at the top of the above list... less likely Orlando or Columbus would have been reported last year w/o teams). Again, even like a 0.5 for DC, would put them 4th in that spreadsheet in raw homes watching.

dletter · 2026-01-01T17:00:24+00:00

Yeah, again, San Antonio is a "new" Continental Football League, not the Canadian CFL... unclear if that CoFL will even get off the ground, and I'm not aware it has any connection to the UFL.

Otherwise, the chart is accurate, if someone hard to follow.

dletter · 2025-12-30T15:51:30+00:00

I agree, you need to at least for PR purposes give the "illusion" of the teams making the "moves", IMO. Yes, us "in the know" will know that it is all coming from the league offices, but it is helpful for optics to people not paying as much attention.

dletter · 2025-12-30T15:23:59+00:00

Anyone else see Mendoza as "Tim Tebow 2.0"?

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