USFL Gives Some Touchdowns, Some Renouvellement

As the halfway point of the new United States Football League (USFL) regular season approaches, an assessment shows that it has delivered both touchdowns and turnovers.

A few truths are evident:

• The games are competitive.
• The ratings are respectable.
• It still has a long way to go.
• You can’t bet on the games in Texas.

Spring football has never fit into the American sports calendar. Many have tried, and many will try again. In fact, another spring football league, XFL 6.0, is slated to play next year.

This spring, the new USFL has six teams playing in two different stadiums in Birmingham, AL. It’s supported by FOX Sports, which covers the major expenses and gives the league plenty of airtime.

After a month, the average margin of victory is 7.6 points. This number is skewed by the 31-point win by the New Orleans Breakers in Week 2. If we exclude that, the margin is 7.2. The average number of points per USFL game is 35.3, which is relatively low but not too bad. NFL games average about 47 points.

Touchdowns together with turnovers

Landing: The game titles

The past week in the USFL saw Fresh Orleans Breakers quarterback Kyle Sloter (formerly of the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos) connect on a nice back-shoulder throw with 10 seconds left to give his team a victory over Houston.

In the first game of the weekend, the USFL saw another game come down to a last-second field goal, this one a 21-yard miss by Michael Carrizosa. That allowed the Philadelphia Stars to win, 27-26.

If you enjoy football games that come down to the end, the USFL has delivered that. Let’s overlook the 21-yard miss.

Yield: The Maryland Maulers

The Maulers were the talk of the league early on after a bizarre video emerged of coach Kirby Wilson reprimanding running back De’Veon Wilson following a cafeteria incident. The whole situation was uncomfortable to witness. Wilson may have intended to portray himself as a disciplinarian deserving of respect, but it came across as petty.

In the 21st century, your reputation is shaped by what social media says about you, and young football players are influenced by what they see online. Coach Wilson appeared overwhelmed in that moment. His team’s response has been harsh. The Maulers are the only team in the USFL without a win. They have scored a league-low 39 points.

Touchdown: Surveillance cameras everywhere

As you don’t care (yet) about the individuals playing in the games, and fans only have a limited affiliation to a team, the best thing the USFL can offer is groundbreaking television. We’ve seen:

• Referee cameras
• Helmet cameras
• Inside-the-instant-replay booth cam

This truly brings viewers inside the game like never before.

Turnover: Interaction issues

A unique aspect of the USFL is that during games, viewers at home can hear conversations between players and coaches, including the play being called in the huddle.

One would think that this kind of information would be entertaining, but instead, it’s challenging. While it may be cool to hear Houston quarterback Clayton Thorson say, “Blue Right, 486 hitch and go, A out, on two” calling out the play, formation, and signal in the huddle, none of the viewers know what it means. It’s a different language and something we just don’t need to hear.

Landing: Embracing playing

USFL broadcasts practically blare out the point spread and over/under number at the start of the broadcast. One way to truly generate interest from casual fans is to not ignore the fact that, you know, people are betting on the games.

My personal rule of USFL gambling so far is to bet against the Maulers. Trust me on this.

Turnover: Give attention to Birmingham

If by coincidence or not, the Birmingham Stallions are the league’s only unbeaten team at 4-0. They are technically the only home team in the USFL. The league hasn’t released attendance numbers, but it’s clear that people in Birmingham aren’t going to see any USFL games involving teams with no connection to the area.

This is always going to be a problem, though, when the USFL decided to play all the games in one city. The league can hope for one of two scenarios. Either the Stallions remain undefeated and increase their fan base, or the rest of America starts seeing them as the villains and roots against them.

Touchdown: Television set ratings

The main number in any sporting event these days isn’t the number of fans in the stands. It’s the number of eyeballs on the telecast and social media reach.

The first game of the USFL saw it receive about 3 million viewers on a game simulcast on FOX and NBC. Those numbers have leveled off, as expected, to around 1 million for games on FOX in Week 6. That still holds up well compared to regular-season baseball games and NHL playoff games.

Although not necessarily part of the league’s strategy, putting games on pay-to-watch apps like Peacock won’t help grow interest in the USFL.

Yield: Unsolvable concerns

By giving the teams the same names as the old USFL back in 1983-1985, it gave the league a sense of nostalgia, but who remembers the greatest rivalries from the old league? (I do. The Philadelphia Stars and New Jersey Generals were one. So were the Jacksonville Bulls and Tampa Bay Bandits, the Memphis Showboats and Birmingham Stallions, and the Houston Gamblers and Los Angeles Express).

We watch the NFL because it’s awesome, and also because we know about the rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants and the tradition of Thanksgiving games. It’s all part of the fabric of the NFL product. The USFL doesn’t have that, and won’t for years, if ever.

The USFL can at least boast some of the best players in the world playing for big money as a way to challenge the NFL. The USFL is respectable Triple-A football. Nothing more.