Johnston: UFL will return in same eight markets, no expansion for 2025

[MGB01]

They can start by correcting false narratives, like the current 'bumped for IndyCar'--um no, it was announced at the FOX upfronts last month FFS--garbage.

But I'm not holding my breath for that pushback. 

Do we have a any Fox people saying it was for Indy?

 

 

FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks and IndyCar CEO Mark Miles both confirmed FOX's deal with IndyCar was made possible because the network was able to free up broadcasting windows on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.



 

IOW the 'backseat' narrative that was briefly pushed by supposed convert Florio--and thankfully seems to have disappeared after two days of L00K AT ME I'M NEWS1--is in fact another seat-produced product.

It was announced a good month before this:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... ts-in-2025

The UFL is taking a back seat to auto racing.Via Mike Mitchell of SI.com, Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks recently confirmed that UFL games will move to Friday nights in 2025. Fox needs the weekend broadcast windows for its new deal with IndyCar.

.................................

Regardless, the UFL has done well in its first year — but not well enough to stay in a better weekend slot on Fox.

Nowhere was the announcement at the upfronts mentioned.

So while I don't buy Florio's "conversion", apparently someone did let him know and in lieu of admitting he was wr.....wr.....wr.....(wide receiver?) he all the sudden sounds like he was doing the UFL Today podcast for the last four months--which I fully expect to go away like it never happened when guys don't make the first 53, don't say you weren't warned.

[laxtreme56]

As said, the UFL moving to Friday night should not be seen as a demotion. They have the potential to become the Fox Friday night anchor, and I look forward to seeing the Friday night college crowds in DC and Birmingham next month. Indy car is a cheap low risk investment for Fox. Plus, it's not like they own Indy Car and can dictate when and where the races are held. I think it's still more likely than not we'll see a second Fox game at that 12/1pm Saturday time slot as well. Let ABC/ESPN pick up a Saturday matinee game and a Sunday at 1pm to round out the weekend.

[4th&long]

As said, the UFL moving to Friday night should not be seen as a demotion. They have the potential to become the Fox Friday night anchor, and I look forward to seeing the Friday night college crowds in DC and Birmingham next month. Indy car is a cheap low risk investment for Fox. Plus, it's not like they own Indy Car and can dictate when and where the races are held. I think it's still more likely than not we'll see a second Fox game at that 12/1pm Saturday time slot as well. Let ABC/ESPN pick up a Saturday matinee game and a Sunday at 1pm to round out the weekend.

 

Good points.

Fox had 22 games televised (includes playoffs) with 3 overlapping regionalized simulcast. One Fox game was on FS1.  Friday nights just means they have less inventory for the weekend.  But they had those 3 regionalized games and FS1 game - 4 games which could go separately on Fox.

That could mean no FS1 (good) no regionalization (mostly good some bad), Less games on Disney nets esp ESPN2.

So I can see upto a full 10 games on Friday nights and still have  13 game windows  on Fox proper on the weekend. (the FS1, 3 games no longer simlucast-regionally and taking the ESPN2 game from Disney.  Or even some more from ESPN.

The only potential issue here is if Friday nights bomb.

[GregParks]

Is it not possible that FOX announced UFL’s move to Fridays first, with the intention of replacing it with IndyCar, but for whatever reason (contracts, etc.) couldn’t announce they had IndyCar until more recently?  

[4th&long]

Is it not possible that FOX announced UFL’s move to Fridays first, with the intention of replacing it with IndyCar, but for whatever reason (contracts, etc.) couldn’t announce they had IndyCar until more recently?  


 

Possible sure... probable? not so much. Indy Car was still negotiating.  Recall Smackdown was lost in 9/2023.  Fox was probably already planning CFB/CBB/UFL to fill that void before losing WWE, and certainly after.

And  Indy car was still negotiating when it was reported that UFL was part of the Smackdown replacement, Fox I'm sure enticed Indy better than NBC with more dates than NBC could provide and the absence of Smackdown allowed that.

Does Indy Car eliminate the need for UFL expansion from Fox's side? At least for 2025,  Sure that's more probable.

[MGB01]

Is it not possible that FOX announced UFL’s move to Fridays first, with the intention of replacing it with IndyCar, but for whatever reason (contracts, etc.) couldn’t announce they had IndyCar until more recently?  

Of course it is, but that would also assume that the IndyCar deals were done, and of course IC wouldn't let it out of the bag while the Indy 500's still two weeks out for obvious reasons. That said given the ratings the 500 did it would been dumb to not keep that in hand but lock it up altogether--FOX could have been a late bid for all we know and not even a consideration in May. After all IC isn't the behemoth that NASCAR is where you know the players months before the ink's dry.

[Dome Dome Dome]

They're going to have more favorable kick off times - Friday nights far exceed any 11am start time and more time to prepare in each market is something that they are heavily leaning on.

However it's no longer the shiney new toy and the novelty and intrigue will also be gone, and they were struggling to draw in most markets with that in their corner.

I suspect at least half of the teams will turn over in the 2025 off season. The actual on field product isn't bad and the product is doing as intended within the "eco system". The hard bit is that theres more atmosphere on the moon than some of these stadiums. It could be a shoot out or a close game, but when you have 7/8k people in a stadium with a capacity of 40k+ it still manages to suck the intensity out of things. 
 

[laxtreme56]

Hiring local ticketing and marketing teams should help in the attendance department, especially if they can release a schedule by late October/early November. You'll get an initial rush when tickets go on sale. Then activate some holiday packages to take you through December and January. You'll get another rush when the NFL season ends then the week or 2 leading up to kickoff.

It was said the head of ticket sales for Birmingham was based out of Arlington. What better way to connect with the locals than by living hundreds of miles away.

[steve42]

It was said the head of ticket sales for Birmingham was based out of Arlington. What better way to connect with the locals than by living hundreds of miles away.

I don't know that Corey was in Arlington (I thought he was in Florida) but he was handling ticketing for two teams (Birmingham and Memphis(?)) so he was not completely focused on the Stallions.  He's very helpful, but after the relationships the USFL ticket guru made with the fans, he had some big shoes to fill. Sometimes he's a bit hard to reach.  If they make the ratio 1:1 for ticketing reps, I think that helps.

[Logofan]

Interesting complication for Michigan:



If the UFL continues to stay in its spring schedule, they have the possibility of picking one of the smaller outdoor stadiums (Rynearson hosted the Panthers' practices in '23). If they go back to the XFL, post-Super Bowl window... that pretty much guarantees they have to go back to Ford Field or else head at least somewhat further south.

And it'd be especially troublesome for the league to leave since Detroit is one of the league's biggest markets (I think it's third behind Arlington, as part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, and DC).

But honestly—and this is what PO's me about the whole decision to stay at 8—is that when Vince McMahon picked the original XFL markets, he did so with a lot of thought. It was an equal spread across the country for the most part, but teams had natural regional rivals. Seattle/Los Angeles (upper and lower West Coast), Dallas/Houston (Texas Throwdown), New York/DC (Eastern Seaboard). LA/St. Louis also has that "grudge match by proxy" effect that, had they not locked down the world, was bound to have fed the fire that was Battlehawk Nation into a frenzy.

Most of the USFL's markets are built differently. Birmingham is in Alabama, their big college rivalry is in-state ('Bama vs. Auburn). and the state is obviously too small for two pro teams. If they were to play in New Orleans, the big rivalry there, the Golden Boot, is LSU against Arkansas, a market that hasn't been seriously considered for pro football since the AAFL flamed out in 2008. And they've never actually played in New Jersey or Philadelphia, the big East Coast markets they named teams after.

Michigan's natural rival is Ohio. The USFL had a good relationship with Canton, which is on the outskirts of the Cleveland metro. Yet the UFL is not going back to Ohio, leaving Michigan floating out there. With the Guardians out of NY, DC is basically floating around out there, too.

There just doesn't seem to be the cultural awareness when it comes to their choice of markets. I don't want to see Michigan leave but it needs some help—help that, it appears, is not on the way.

(Side note: I know I get long-winded sometimes, but that's how my head works.)

While I agree with you on the rivalries and needing better geographic locations, the main drive behind Fox's interest was do a football league that could fill a timeslot and be no more expensive than the average broadcast costs of any shows that might be seen instead.

Economics has played a major factor into their stadium decisions.  They are not going to break the budget just to get a market they really need.  It sucks for enthusiastic fans, but the hope is that we eventually will get the teams we need and want.