USFL and XFL officially merge to form UFL (Birmingham, Newton: living, vs.)

[GotLuv4Bham]

Finally!


https://www.wbrc.com/2023/12/31/comb...otball-league/

[TimCity2000]

"The UFL will kickoff March 30, 2024 with a matchup between the back-to-back USFL Champions, the Birmingham Stallions, and the XFL Champions, the Arlington Renegades."

smart to open the season with the champs from the 2 leagues playing each other. maybe i missed it, but does anyone know where the game will take place?

[GotLuv4Bham]

Hopefully in Birmingham, but I've heard nothing solid as of yet. Giddy up!

[OldBankhead]

I hate losing NBC but picking up ESPN will probably prove to be better for the league's health and perception. I would *think* they would want to open in a big market like Dallas/Arlington, but Protective still has a shot.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by OldBankhead

I hate losing NBC but picking up ESPN will probably prove to be better for the league's health and perception. I would *think* they would want to open in a big market like Dallas/Arlington, but Protective still has a shot.

Plus ESPN will flog it on their website. They pretty much ignored the USFL the last two seasons.

[OldBankhead]

It'll be a shame not to have all the players living local, but great to still have the team. I'm thinking this almost assures the kickoff game will be in Dallas, but we'll see.

https://www.cbs42.com/news/birmingha...ll-league/amp/

[bfmx1]

So the team now has literally zero ties to Birmingham except they fly in to play 5 games and claim the name? They won't even practice here? To me, that makes it very hard to be a fan and get behind your team when that's the situation. I'd say Birmingham lost big in this merger except for the fact that it does breath fresh life into the league.

[WK91]

The key to success for this league needs to be some big names at QB. The problem is that the 96 (presumably) best (QB1, QB2, and practice squad QB) are already in the NFL.

I don’t know what the answer is, but Cookus vs. McGough isn’t the answer to grow this league.

How about Cam Newton vs Matt Ryan? Nick Foles, Colt McCoy. That would generate a lot more interest.

But how do you get these guys interested to play for peanuts?

[OldBankhead]

After going to most of the games, I would say McGough was being built up to be a star. The fans were certainly behind him and he got a lot of juice from the commentators during games. The guy had the swagger to become a big name, until he got called up. A hot QB can become an overnight sensation because of the nature of the position. They don't necessarily have to try to get older washed up guys to come back and play, but a few guys who maybe didn't get a good run or fair shake in the NFL could generate some buzz.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by bfmx1

So the team now has literally zero ties to Birmingham except they fly in to play 5 games and claim the name? They won't even practice here? To me, that makes it very hard to be a fan and get behind your team when that's the situation. I'd say Birmingham lost big in this merger except for the fact that it does breath fresh life into the league.

yeah, that's likely how most of the other teams' fans felt that first year of the USFL. hard to tell what effect that will have on attendance, though. it's not like fans see them practicing and living here. it may help that the brand was fairly well established the past 2 years. i'm certainly not anticipating a big increase in attendance, but i'm not sure i see a big drop off either.