USFL exec speaks on this season and next

[herns]

“ From what Adkins has heard, the USFL has committed to a second season in 2023. There has been no official announcement about next year and no decisions have been made on whether all eight teams will play again in one city or split equally among two markets, as well as the possibility of selling individual franchises. Those decisions will be made over the next several weeks, he said.”

“ The Birmingham Stallions, the USFL’s designated “home team,” have drawn decent crowds of 10,000 to 15,000. Otherwise, attendance has been sparse for the seven other teams with 1,500 to 2,000 in the stands, Adkins said.”

“ Fox Sports is more focused on broadcast content than attendance, Adkins said. The USFL is testing various technologies to attract viewers with skycams, drones and players, coaches and referees mic’d up during play.”

My big takeaway is the city is supporting the stallions well and I don’t know if the league can sustain a second year in a hub or two hubs. I think the original plan of having half the teams in markets is better than two hubs but I don’t love either, for the good of the league they need to be in markets after year 1



https://venuesnow.com/former-nfl-stadiu ... s-to-usfl/

[4th&long]

“ From what Adkins has heard, the USFL has committed to a second season in 2023. There has been no official announcement about next year and no decisions have been made on whether all eight teams will play again in one city or split equally among two markets, as well as the possibility of selling individual franchises. Those decisions will be made over the next several weeks, he said.”

“ The Birmingham Stallions, the USFL’s designated “home team,” have drawn decent crowds of 10,000 to 15,000. Otherwise, attendance has been sparse for the seven other teams with 1,500 to 2,000 in the stands, Adkins said.”

“ Fox Sports is more focused on broadcast content than attendance, Adkins said. The USFL is testing various technologies to attract viewers with skycams, drones and players, coaches and referees mic’d up during play.”

My big takeaway is the city is supporting the stallions well and I don’t know if the league can sustain a second year in a hub or two hubs. I think the original plan of having half the teams in markets is better than two hubs but I don’t love either, for the good of the league they need to be in markets after year 1



https://venuesnow.com/former-nfl-stadiu ... s-to-usfl/

The League owners - Fox - only care about TV ratings. Same with NBC. The near hysteria that ratings are tied to crowd size is over blown.
However, having said that - the USFL/Fox did NOT let the TV audience know:

1) They are playing all games in Birmingham
2) They are using a Hub model and rolling out the teams into actual markets in years 2 & 3 (whether they do or not)
3) That their expectations for attendance to non-Birm games are low

Without this the fans may get perception that it is poorly liked when in fact no one expects fans for 2 out-of-market teams playing.

This is their biggest issue with attendance/perception. Ie not being candid about it.- IMO

The ratings have been in line with my expectations (all things considered) sans the NJ/NOLA game which I vastly attribute to 45 min rain delay.

[Tank55]

If attendance doesn't matter at all, directly or indirectly, why ever even leave the hub?

[4th&long]

If attendance doesn't matter at all, directly or indirectly, why ever even leave the hub?

LOL No one is saying that.

To sell teams and increase interest in those markets. I did not say it won't help interest long term, no one is saying that, my point is KNOWING they are in a hub yr 1 or 2 but only temp (like NBA and NHL) is fine. But where NBA/NHL was obvious and open about it... USFL while not hiding it is not explicit.

An all-in-hub "dev" league could work but at a much lower lever.

ANd BTW 10/40 games are in market, its just 30 to go.

[johnnyangryfuzzball]

If attendance doesn't matter at all, directly or indirectly, why ever even leave the hub?

Because attendance does matter, indirectly, and has enough of an impact on the league's reputation that it, in turn, affects how many people are willing to tune in on TV for it.

I'm not sure how two hubs fixes that problem at all, other than perhaps giving a second team a home audience and more options for prime time. They already have a second "hub" in Canton; it wouldn't hurt to move a Panthers or Maulers game there to see if there's support, since it looks like neither will make the playoffs.

[4th&long]

If attendance doesn't matter at all, directly or indirectly, why ever even leave the hub?

Because attendance does matter, indirectly, and has enough of an impact on the league's reputation that it, in turn, affects how many people are willing to tune in on TV for it.

I'm not sure how two hubs fixes that problem at all, other than perhaps giving a second team a home audience and more options for prime time. They already have a second "hub" in Canton; it wouldn't hurt to move a Panthers or Maulers game there to see if there's support, since it looks like neither will make the playoffs.

It did not impact the NHL or NBA reputation in 2020. Are people watching the USFL? Did they watch the TSL.

No one is suggesting that the optics look better with fans. But FOX should have explained why there are low fans in Yr 1 for non-Birm games. Otherwise misperceptions arise.

[laxtreme56]

NBA and NHL ratings dropped like a rock during their hub games, smaller but significant drop for the NFL as well. These 2 situations aren't comparable. We weren't even supposed to be in the same room as close family during 2020, not the case anymore. I hadn't watched a full NHL game in nearly 20 years until the Rangers-Pens game 7. Watching that capacity crowd go bonkers at MSG now has me interested in hockey again.

[4th&long]

NBA and NHL ratings dropped like a rock during their hub games, smaller but significant drop for the NFL as well. These 2 situations aren't comparable. We weren't even supposed to be in the same room as close family during 2020, not the case anymore. I hadn't watched a full NHL game in nearly 20 years until the Rangers-Pens game 7. Watching that capacity crowd go bonkers at MSG now has me interested in hockey again.

Well LA- that's you. Most people are more interested in what's going on on the Ice/Field than in the stands.

The NBA had other reasons (political) that turned many off, they've since dropped and viewers back up.

It's like a cold baseball game with few fans- does that make your enjoyment that much different on TV? Some yes some no but other than maybe. I would say it impacts more the fans in attendance than watching on TV.

- There are other reasons for ratings that Fox seems to be fine with but hurt the viewer numbers:

1) Not having a set upfront Schedule pre season
2) Flex scheduling with different networks, days and hours - weekly. Making it harder to find.
3) Rain delays (45 min) that's a rating destroyer.
4) Not setting audience expectation on attendance.

With all that other than 1 game (NJ/NOLA with horrid Rain delay) is doing quite well. You can not expect winter viewing numbers in the spring and in "small markets" than XFL 2.0. XFL 3.0 will learn that soon.

[MGB01]

We really shouldn't be putting the USFL in the same one-time break-glass deal mention. Sure, we got the cool one-time visual of everybody playing at the same time (and three Sunday night network sports events--NBA on ABC, NHL on NBC, and boxing on FOX which I don't think has ever happened) but look what it took to get it.

IRT "the crowd noise goes wild": One is of choice, one wasn't. Plus we're talking leagues that not only have been around 75-100 years but do 10-11 figures in revenue annually, kind of a tough sell there.

Don't go too Donnie Woods

[Tank55]

You're all over the place. On the one hand, you're saying that USFL's problem is one of perception/framing; on the other, you're saying that most people only care about what's happening on the field (except when politics are involved?). It's totally incoherent.