Football is back! Well, at least Spring league football is back with the emergence of the newly created UFL kicking off last weekend. The USFL and XFL merged partnership was met with excitement as the two leagues hope this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship.
With fan interest chiefly important, we get a chance to dissect the numbers to see how viewership went in Week 1 for the league.
Breaking Down the UFL Week 1 Viewership Numbers
The NFL season ended in February with the Super Bowl, and since then, there’s been a void in the hearts of football fans everywhere. With nothing available to satisfy that itch, the UFL comes at the perfect time.
With that comes the release of the opening weekend’s TV ratings. We analyze them all.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Mike Mitchell, “Saturday’s #UFL opener featuring the @USFLStallions and @XFLRenegades averaged 1.181 million viewers on FOX. The second game on FOX between the @XFLBattlehawks and @USFLPanthers averaged 1.349 million viewers.
“On ESPN Sunday. D.C-San Antonio: 960k Memphis-Houston: 703k.”
Mitchell also adds, that “The peak viewership for Saturday’s #UFL2024 games Arlington-Birmingham: 1.349 million (3:30-3:45) St. Louis-Michigan: 1.689 million (6:45-7pm).”
Mitchell also notes that the streaming numbers for each game are not included in these totals. One could infer that these numbers would all inflate to a degree when factoring in those additional data points.
UFL Producing Talent, Drawing Interest
There is sneaky good talent in the Spring leagues. The emergence of players such as KR KaVontae Turpin and K Brandon Aubrey, both of whom became All-Pros in their first NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys following their Spring football league seasons.
The entire league is not filled with consistent NFL talent, but it has a growing track record of producing players that make it to the next level. That alone may be worth rooting for the new UFL to stick around.
With the idea that the league can be viewed as a farm system and another way to strengthen even the NFL product, the UFL has true staying power as long as the fans continue to respond to it positively.
More so than that, it’s clear that America loves football. So while these numbers won’t knock your socks off, they certainly are respectable for a league that has yet to make its mark on the American sports landscape.
KEEP READING: UFL Attendance 2024 — What Did Week 1’s Opening Weekend Look Like?
Pining for more football? We’ve got you covered on all things UFL, including the top 20 players, player salaries, and much more.
I enjoyed the first two weeks of spring football maybe their is a player or two who might start for the Steelers