The Battle for Houston: XFL Roughnecks vs USFL Gamblers

[4th&long]

I've yet to encounter a compelling argument to keep the Gamblers over the Roughnecks. The best I've seen is that it may even out or come closer to evening out the USFL teams compared to the XFL teams in this "merger of equals," though that's not a great argument from a business standpoint.

I guess if they end up in a hub it ultimately doesn't matter much (though you're losing a legendary HC in Wade Phillips and an up-and-coming assistant in AJ Smith unless you just swap them out for the Gamblers staff). If they manage to find a stadium for the Houston team, one thing to keep in mind is they've already been taking season ticket deposits for the Roughnecks. If you keep the Gamblers, you're starting from scratch selling tickets. Even if they've only sold 50 deposits for the Roughnecks (which admittedly are NOT season tickets themselves, but would turn into season tickets, and hey, it's still revenue), that's still 50 more than the Gamblers have sold.

The Houston Roughnecks tickets would simply be transfered to Houston Gamblers tickets. The teams would be interchangable, ie a name change. Anyone not agreeing can get a refund but that's ilkely a pittance.

I don't know about that. That seems pretty presumptive and could backfire. And from what I've seen from both the video posted and on some forums, "pittance" might be under selling it.

Its getting a bit silly isn't it? Roughnecks/Gamblers...? The reason for Gamblers may be for USFL/XFL "balance" just for appearances sake. I'm not sold on a Houston team in 2024 anyway but if its played at a Hub its likely Gamblers and if in Houston its likely Roughnecks but not by a wide margin. In the end its just a name that was re-logo'd for its latest season - 5 home games. This isn't the NY Giants. Look at Dallas - they became Arlington and changed the Helmet... the world didn't stop. If people want to see spring FB they'll show up.

A more interesting question IMO, hopefully put to bed by the league soon, is will Houston have a team in 2024 or will another city step in like Canton or Orlando.

Just FYI...

https://pfnewsroom.com/news/houston-gam ... ler-coyle/

>> The silence has been broken. After not signing any players since September 30th, the Houston Gamblers added Tyler Coyle to their roster. This is the first move the USFL team has made in over two months, and it’s an important one. <<