Sports Business Journal’s Dan Kaufman, UFL President & CEO Russ Brandon, Managing Director of RedBird Capital Kevin LaForce and President, Content of ESPN Burke Magnus (theufl.com)
Members of the UFL ownership and executive leadership team discussed the merger of the USFL and XFL, the UFL’s relationship with the NFL, the league’s future and more at the Sports Business Journal Media Innovators Conference. Among those representing the UFL at the panel were President & CEO Russ Brandon, RedBird Capital Managing Director Kevin LaForce, and ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus. The video of the event was posted on the UFL’s official website and can be viewed here.
The discussion began with LaForce talking about how the merger came about, as well as the unique ownership structure. “The thesis for us at RedBird is essentially, can you answer the question, ‘is there demand for spring football?'” he said. “What we’ve seen in spring football over the last three years across the various leagues is that with north of a million people tuning in on broadcast (television), thirty-plus thousand people showing up in St. Louis, the demand question is asked and answered.
“Now it’s about money and it’s about execution. With the backers we have, capital isn’t an issue and patience isn’t an issue. And with Russ (Brandon) at the helm, I don’t think execution is going to be an issue.”
In terms of the ownership structure and what it means for the future, LaForce said, “We set up as a single entity and we did so to maximize speed and flexibility. For us as a collective in terms of exits and how we think about return on the investment, there’s a number of outcomes we could pursue. We could sell franchises, we could keep it as a single entity.”
Brandon spoke a bit on the genesis of the merger, saying that after the XFL’s board meeting in July of 2024, the decision was made to go to Los Angeles to meet with the USFL brain trust. “In business school they say mergers are disasters,” he said. “This was exactly the opposite.” Brandon also acknowledged local market activation being the focus this off-season.
ESPN aired the first remake of the XFL in 2020, and Magnus admitted that those five weeks whetted the appetite of the network brass to be in the spring football business, and said it’s a big reason they’re still involved. “We feel really positive about the long-term prospects of spring football,” he said. Magnus then threw out some statistics, talking about the increase in viewership (30%) year over year, social engagement (up 50% YOY), and a 47% increase in unique digital users on the ESPN App, plus strong demos in each of those. “We feel good about the foundation.”
LaForce emphasized the need to, above all else, put a compelling product on the field. “The only thing I was paying attention to when we kicked the ball off with the XFL was, ‘is this going to look like good football?’ Because if you get that right, you’re off to the races on just execution.” Among the key issues going forward, he mentioned getting people to the games, local market interest, building team brands, and growing the league season over season and continuing to produce a national footprint. He also mentioned the UFL’s partnership with the NFL “to advance the game more broadly.”
Though a week-by-week schedule has not been released, the expectation is that the 2025 breakdown of where games can be viewed on TV will be “essentially the same” as 2024, according to Magnus. He mentioned the need to establish consistency and habits for viewers in terms of where and when to find games. He said ABC will have the league championship game this year after FOX aired it last year. Magnus also discussed innovation of presentation with technology and having the kind of access to players and coaches that is unique to this league.
“This is a platform and a lab for the sport of football, for broadcasting and distributing the sport of football, for player healthy and safety, for rules and engagement; this is to benefit the overall ecosystem across all sports and more broadly the sport of football,” LaForce said of the UFL.
A question was asked by the moderator about the league’s relationship with the NFL. “We work with the NFL on rules, innovation, technology, officiating, how do we serve the underserved populations in our game,” said Brandon. He brought forward that the UFL has female officials on every crew, and said he works with NFL EVP of Football Operations Troy Vincent on a 365-day basis. They want the UFL to be an “incubator to assist” moving the game of football forward. Brandon added the development aspect of promoting players, officials and others to the next level.
The moderator also took questions from the audience. One asked for a breakdown of focus between local revenue and tickets versus television viewership. Brandon told the story of noticing St. Louis Battlehawks fans tailgating hours before a home game. He talked of wanting to build the local markets and the ways they’ve cut costs, like using the hub in Arlington and using the same charter plane for both teams. Brandon noted they have staffs of eight to ten people in each market “building the basis for our league.” He wants to continue to grow that. “We’re enormously pleased with the reach and engagement not only at the local level but national level.”
LaForce also talked about the need to engage local markets in the product. “Locally, it’s not great to tune into a football game when there’s only 5,000 people in a 60,000-person stadium. We have to continue to drive local avidity and interest. There’s no magic bullet, it’s just boots on the ground. We’ve had a lot of success – literally overnight, in certain markets, which is remarkable and a tribute to the team and the sport of football – but we need to continue to do more.”
Another question was about producing more shoulder programming or documentaries as other leagues do, to continue to get the word out about the UFL. LaForce said the focus is on social and digital, which is a “lighter lift” than some other shoulder programming like documentaries, and is more likely to reach the younger demo they’re looking for. In addition, he said it allows the league to have a presence, locally and nationally, on a year-round basis.
Continuing the theme of social and digital emphasis, Magnus talked about the atmosphere in St. Louis and D.C. and how they want to replicate that all across the league for the betterment of the presentation of the game. He said they can be more smart and tactical at this stage by being present digitally and socially as opposed to the alternative “A year-round, always-on philosophy, particularly on social and digital, is critically important and that’s a focus.”
When asked what to say to convince the doubters about the viability of spring football, Brandon said he was once a non-believer. “I was a doubter. No question. I am completely, completely bullish on this property and what we’re building.
“When you look at the level of engagement, both on the content side, what we’re doing at the local markets and what we’re doing on the national platforms, it speaks for itself. We’ve got a lot to do, especially on the local side, but we’re committed to that. My focus, and our staff, is to continue to get more people in the stands to experience the UFL.”
LaForce concluded by saying, “The demand is there. We see it, we measure it, it’s why we’re investing heavily behind it. A million viewers on average on over-the-air broadcast, that just doesn’t happen often…the demand is there, so it’s really about execution.”
Brandon added, “We’re in this for the long haul, or I wouldn’t be in it.” Magnus closed his remarks by observing that there is a desire for more football, and the success will depend on the execution of the vision of all involved.
