XFL and USFL merge into the United Football League

[BKIslandersFan]

Texas would be weird too with there being 2 other XFL (now UFL) teams in Texas. As for why they changed from Dallas to Arlington, dunno, probably something to do with the fact that the league's headquarters and player/coach living and practice hub is in Arlington

Texas Rangers and Houston Astros?

I am guessing they got a good deal for stadium with city of Arlington and contingent was team name being Arlington.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Even with merger, still won’t succeed likely

 

[MMC]

Texas Rangers and Houston Astros?

I am guessing they got a good deal for stadium with city of Arlington and contingent was team name being Arlington.

Not a fan of that either

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Best of luck to them, upstart leagues like the AFL, WHA, and even USFL for a bit were able to get success because the players were ludicrously underpaid, for the value they actually provided. They signed top talent and were actually a compelling product as a result.

That's no longer the case so these upstart leagues all seem DOA to me.

 

[PCSPounder]

Eh, seems like a dull corporate branding that has neither the historical legitimacy and nostalgia of the USFL or the edge of the XFL.

But whatever, I'll still not care if there isn't a Chicago team, and even if there is a Chicago team I'll only mildly care.

Considering the original leagues lasted 3 years and 1 year respectively, what’s this historical legitimacy you speak of?

Football seems massively popular, but it’s the NFL and major college football that ARE massively popular. The sport itself? Eh…

 

[No Fun Shogun]

The old USFL was the closest thing to a meaningful alternative league between now and back when the American Football League was its own thing, and there are geezers that still have fond memories of the thing. Certainly a bigger impact than any of these afterthought things, the XFL which was reduced to a visual Simpsons gag, or the UFL being remembered for nothing other than an awkward sideline interview with Denzel Washington trying to watch his son play while the sideline reporter hypeman was trying to get him to give free advertising for the wherever locomotives.

 

[GindyDraws]

The old USFL was the closest thing to a meaningful alternative league between now and back when the American Football League was its own thing, and there are geezers that still have fond memories of the thing. Certainly a bigger impact than any of these afterthought things, the XFL which was reduced to a visual Simpsons gag, or the UFL being remembered for nothing other than an awkward sideline interview with Denzel Washington trying to watch his son play while the sideline reporter hypeman was trying to get him to give free advertising for the wherever locomotives.

At the very least, the USFL (at least the old one) exists nowadays as that stuff that was used in old SpongeBob SquarePants episodes whenever they wanted to show football because it was cheap footage.

"Maybe we're in one of those toxic waste dumps."

 

[MMC]

They have abandoned both brand names but won't say what the new name is
They have lost 1/3 of their broadcast partners
They have folded 1/2 of their teams
They have 3 months until they're supposed to kick off and it's pretty much radio silence
They won't have advertising during the Super Bowl like the XFL and USFL did before they relaunched

Seems like things are going extremely poorly so far.

You sure do seem to enjoy being overwhelmingly negative at every possible opportunity for someone who seems to have enough of an affinity for alt-football leagues to be a regular in discussions about them on multiple sites

 

[famicommander]

You sure do seem to enjoy being overwhelmingly negative at every possible opportunity for someone who seems to have enough of an affinity for alt-football leagues to be a regular in discussions about them on multiple sites

There's no way to spin losing half your teams, a third of your TV partners, the entire western half of the map, and both brand names into a positive.

 

[Jets4Life]

Not going to last.

I still remember when Vince McMahon wanted to buy the CFL, and change all the rules then have an American division, with every team named "Roughriders." The league sure dodged a bullet there...

 

[Yukon Joe]

There's no way to spin losing half your teams, a third of your TV partners, the entire western half of the map, and both brand names into a positive.

Sure there is!

Losing half your teams - they're merging two separate leagues, and are able to get started with the strongest markets/franchises
Third of your TV partners - NBC was a bit player. ABC/ESPN and FOX were the major partners of the USFL and XFL respectively, and will continue to be major partners moving forward
Entire western half of the map - they want to get started in a more concentrated geographic area in order to ease travel and create better rivalries
Loosing both brand names - they want to move forward with a new brandname that fans of both leagues can get behind, and not look like one of the former leagues "won"


Look - history does suggest that the odds are against a new spring league (since both USFL and XFL had two separate goes at it, and failed all 4 times). I certainly wouldn't bet on the UFL succeeding. But there is a core nugget of what seems like a good idea - that Americans love foorball, but it's only played a short time of the year (September to January), so there's a market to watch foorball in the spring. If you can keep costs under control and moderate expectations maybe it can work.

 

[famicommander]

Sure there is!

Losing half your teams - they're merging two separate leagues, and are able to get started with the strongest markets/franchises
Third of your TV partners - NBC was a bit player. ABC/ESPN and FOX were the major partners of the USFL and XFL respectively, and will continue to be major partners moving forward
Entire western half of the map - they want to get started in a more concentrated geographic area in order to ease travel and create better rivalries
Loosing both brand names - they want to move forward with a new brandname that fans of both leagues can get behind, and not look like one of the former leagues "won"


Look - history does suggest that the odds are against a new spring league (since both USFL and XFL had two separate goes at it, and failed all 4 times). I certainly wouldn't bet on the UFL succeeding. But there is a core nugget of what seems like a good idea - that Americans love foorball, but it's only played a short time of the year (September to January), so there's a market to watch foorball in the spring. If you can keep costs under control and moderate expectations maybe it can work.

The merger is happening because both individual leagues did significantly worse than the money behind them expected them to. The teams that are being folded are being folded because no venue, anywhere, wants them. NBC is not a bit player, they're a far bigger and more successful broadcaster than Fox.

They invested time and money in the thrice-failed XFL and twice-failed USFL brands, only to settle on the twice-failed UFL brand that they had to pry out of the hands of a literal conman.

There is not a demand for football in general. There's a demand for the NFL because it's the best football in the world and there's a demand for college football because of geography, tradition, and high enrollments. This league's pitch is "we're just like the NFL, except drastically worse in every respect". There is nothing the UFL is doing better than the USFL 1.0, WLAF/NFL Europe, CFL USA, XFL 1.0, UFL, AAF, XFL 2.0, USFL 2.0, or XFL 3.0. There is no reason to expect better results.

They are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The viewership numbers have been trending downwards since XFL 2.0's first season and there's no reason to expect they'll improve with major markets like Philadelphia, NY/NJ, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Vegas, and Seattle gone.

 

[PCSPounder]

The old USFL was the closest thing to a meaningful alternative league between now and back when the American Football League was its own thing, and there are geezers that still have fond memories of the thing. Certainly a bigger impact than any of these afterthought things, the XFL which was reduced to a visual Simpsons gag, or the UFL being remembered for nothing other than an awkward sideline interview with Denzel Washington trying to watch his son play while the sideline reporter hypeman was trying to get him to give free advertising for the wherever locomotives.

I’m going to compare the interest in that to the ESPN+ broadcasts of New Zealand cricket, because I will enjoy my whimsy, dammit. Most of the pitches for their T20 league might have 1,000 actual seats that go unfilled while people make use of the grass berms around most of the pitch. Of course unlike American broadcasters insisting on only showing full portions of the stands (or, if they feel they have to, trying desperately to not show them at all), New Zealand broadcasts are total DGAF, delightfully unpretentious. They’ll show people tanning or reading a book or kids knocking a ball around behind the berm somewhere and just be thankful they supposedly paid to get in.

In terms of the American paradigm, only St. Louis draws crowds. And unlike most sports (cricket certainly among them), you need those crowds just to pay the insurance bills and the stadium rent. The XFL (unlike the USFL) at least bothered to try to selll tickets for all their teams the last two years, and they only have four remaining teams to show for it. Those USFL markets are kind of only half-tested.