Usfl 2022 (Birmingham, Jacksonville, Jackson: moving, relocating, working)

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by OldBankhead

Their plan laid out from the very beginning was only for year one to be all in Birmingham. Year 2 was supposed to be at least one more hub, possibly 3 more, and then by year 3 to hopefully have all the teams in their own home stadiums.

I don't understand the surprise or criticism or general shock (not you in particular) of people that seem blown away by the fact FOX had all the games here when it was exactly what they said they were going to do. Canton only came up because of the World Games, otherwise they would have had the playoffs at Protective as well... which thank goodness because of all the whining of how the games were rigged and the Stallions had an unfair advantage all year... and couldn't win outside of Protective... (what now?)

Until they expand the league, though, the only markets that will get a shot to host will be of those teams already in the league, and out of all of them, Birmingham is the only one that doesn't have major league sports, so there's really no chance of any sort of "careful consideration." The road map is and has already been laid out.

They'll probably do one northern hub next year and it's going to be between somewhere in Michigan, somewhere in NY/NJ, or somewhere in Pennsylvania. But... I hope they can do four so they'll be less whining when my Stallions repeat and we can see how many butts these other towns will put in the seats during the summer.

Yeah, the criticisms were weird. It was always intended to be a television product, with ticket sales being beside the point. And I don't think any city could handle four pro football games in a weekend.



So Birmingham acquitted itself well, the town showed up for the Stallions games, and Fox fulfilled its first-year biz plan objectives by putting a decent product on the field and garnering a TV audience.

[TimCity2000]

A lot of USFL players are getting signed by NFL teams, including a few from the Stallions.

I think that's a good sign.

Also, the XFL has announced its 8 locations. No major overlap, which is also good. That league will be a Texas-heavy league, but includes 2 teams out west as well.

[WK91]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Yeah, the criticisms were weird. It was always intended to be a television product, with ticket sales being beside the point. And I don't think any city could handle four pro football games in a weekend.



So Birmingham acquitted itself well, the town showed up for the Stallions games, and Fox fulfilled its first-year biz plan objectives by putting a decent product on the field and garnering a TV audience.

I enjoyed the USFL season, it was a nice diversion as I wait for the NFL. My only complaint is that the games would’ve been more exciting if they had butts in the seats. If they are only going to draw a couple hundred people, better to play at a high school field that way it looks better.

50,000 empty seats really is not a good optic. But other than attendance, I thought it was an exceptional league. Just got to figure out a way to get people to come out to all the games.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by WK91

I enjoyed the USFL season, it was a nice diversion as I wait for the NFL. My only complaint is that the games would’ve been more exciting if they had butts in the seats. If they are only going to draw a couple hundred people, better to play at a high school field that way it looks better.

50,000 empty seats really is not a good optic. But other than attendance, I thought it was an exceptional league. Just got to figure out a way to get people to come out to all the games.

The way to get people to come out to all the games is to get all the teams in their respective markets, which the league is doing in a phased approach. I'm sure they assumed that the non-Stallions games would have very little attendance, and that factored into their decision, but they still went with the single hub regardless. It seems to have been a good decision, as the league successfully navigated through Year 1. Year 2 will have at least 2 hub cities. Personally, I hope they go with 4 if they can make it work.

[OldBankhead]

It seems petty to me to still be complaining about attendance of non Stallions games, but to suggest moving those particular games to a low rent high school stadium to IMPROVE optics is... a major contradiction in logic. FOX choosing Birmingham to host had a lot to do with being able to use Protective along with its location in Uptown adjacent to the biggest hotel in the state. There's no sensible logic to suggest the production value and optics of the games would have improved had they played at some high school. None.

Birmingham residents were never going to come out to non Birmingham games. They just weren't. Now it's time for (some) of the other cities to show how they support their home team.

Oh, and to top it off, we got to see a whole season all the way through to a championship and they are coming back for year 2. Most other leagues haven't been able to say that. That new league down in Mobile imploded before it even started... but, herr we' arestill talking about out of market attendance after the confetti and trophy ceremony as we got to see all the games.

Ok.

[TimCity2000]

USFL reveals season 2 details for Birmingham


Not all the details yet, unfortunately. Sounds like the New Orleans Breakers will be based in Birmingham again. No word on the other 6 teams though. As mentioned above, I personally would like to see 4 homes cities this year if they can make it work.

[BammaBoy17]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

USFL reveals season 2 details for Birmingham


Not all the details yet, unfortunately. Sounds like the New Orleans Breakers will be based in Birmingham again. No word on the other 6 teams though. As mentioned above, I personally would like to see 4 homes cities this year if they can make it work.

I do not know how true it is, but I seen on Twitter from a USFL page that the other two cities would be Memphis and all the north teams would use a city in Michigan as it's home games.

[TimCity2000]

that could make sense. i do think the northern cities need at least one hub this year, to make the games somewhat reachable.

[OldBankhead]

Yeah, I heard 2 teams in Birmingham, 2 in Memphis and 4 in Detroit.

[TimCity2000]

Memphis is interesting, given there's no USFL team there. I assume that would be the home base for Houston and Tampa Bay? Unless they're talking about relocating a team to Memphis, which wouldn't seem logical at this point.