Eric Williams
NFL Reporter
Daryl Johnston, the head of football operations for the UFL, says the priority for the growing league is simple.
Get more fans in the stands.
“We’re still trying to find that sweet spot,” Johnston told FOX Sports. “Our markets are very different. We’ve got to get in there and start to build those relationships and find those key members of the community to align with.
“We’ve got to understand what is important in each one of our home markets. We’re better going into season two, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
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The St. Louis Battlehawks led the league in attendance by averaging an impressive 34,000 fans a game last season, but the league overall averaged just 13,512 fans per game in its inaugural season, which fell below the 14,703 fans the legacy XFL averaged per game in 2023. Even the dynastic Birmingham Stallions averaged just over 10,000 fans a contest during the 2024 regular season.
Along with taking a patient, measured approach to building fan attendance and working toward incremental growth, Johnston said the league will focus on innovation through technology and building a better product on the field by acquiring more talented players and improved coaching.
Here’s more on the UFL’s plans:
Focus on incremental progress in home cities
Part of the challenge in growing fan interest has been the use of the HUB model to curb costs, with all eight teams training during the week in Arlington, Texas and then traveling to their home markets to play games on the weekends.
“We’re coming into our home markets five times a year,” Johnston said. “How do we continue to build that brand recognition when we’re in town? And how do we incorporate that into the offseason when we’re not there?”
Johnston said the league made a concerted effort to increase fan engagement in home markets with business marketing teams established in each home city — like the marketing presence of a minor league baseball team in the home market 365 days a year.
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The UFL cannot have a tentpole event each month like the NFL to keep the league top-of-mind in fans’ eyes. However, they are looking to have events during the offseason to stay relevant in the home markets, according to Johnston.
“We’ve kind of got our boots-in-the-ground people in our home markets,” he said. “Now, how do we use them? Down the road, when we start to roll out franchises into the individual markets from our HUB model, that will obviously give them a presence that will always be there.”
Keep innovation and technology at the forefront
The UFL will move to the dynamic kickoff that the NFL switched to this past season, the same one the XFL used two years ago. However, the UFL will kick off from the 30-yard-line instead of the 35, and touchbacks will come out to the 35 instead of the 30 to encourage more returns.
The NFL return rate increased from 22% to 33% in the first year of the dynamic kickoff, while kickoffs in the UFL were returned over 90% of the time last season. Johnston said the UFL would like to keep the returns numbers at that level again this season.
The NFL approved the switch to an electronic measuring system for first downs for the upcoming season, like the Tru Line technology measuring first downs that has been used in the UFL. However, officials are still responsible for spotting the ball.
To further their commitment to technology, the UFL established a technology-focused innovation division called Football Advancement through Sports Technology (FAST). The impetus of the division is to work with technology companies to test and launch innovations and services that advance football. FAST will focus on three emerging technologies — body cameras embedded in a vest below the shoulder pads worn by players, a computer vision and contextual player-tracking system and a sensor-based, “smart ball” tracking system.
Two to four players (likely defensive players, so viewers can get closer to the action) per game will wear the aforementioned body camera, which was tested on UFL officials last season and worn by players for the first time in live game action in the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl — the 100th edition of the event — on January 30.
All-22 camera feeds will provide player-tracking data for plays in all games, including speed, distance and separation, while also providing deeper analytical data points. Smart footballs equipped with sensor technology will be used to study how smart football data can enhance officiating.
FAST and FOX Sports will work together to develop real-time augmented graphics for broadcast and digital content.
Coach-to-player communication remains a priority, with both quarterbacks and an additional four players per team allowed to use radio headsets connected to coaches on the sideline and in the coaching booth during a game; that’s up from eight total players a year ago. Players will also continue to use video replays of game replays on the sideline between possessions.
The Super Challenge remains available to provide coaches with the opportunity to challenge anything on the field on the previous play that was not called. If successful with the first challenge, coaches can earn a second Super Challenge if they still have a timeout available.
Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino, head of officiating for the UFL, will once again oversee and review calls that relate to health and safety, providing transparency with their governing of rules from the TV booth.
Roster construction remains the same for now at 50 players total and 42 players active for game days, pending an agreement between the league and players on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Introduction of Friday night games
Last season, UFL telecasts averaged 850,000 viewers across FOX, FS1, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, which was up 34% from the 2023 average for all USFL and XFL games through the playoffs (619,000).
The 2024 UFL Championship Game shown on FOX garnered 1.6 million viewers. The legacy USFL averaged 715,000 viewers when it returned in 2022.
Looking to build on those numbers, the UFL created a Friday night TV window on FOX. One game each week will air on Friday evenings, a spot FOX has also used to air college football and college basketball.
The USFL aired games on Friday evenings during the league’s return to play in its first season.
“The biggest thing is just giving us another option in the spring,” Johnston said. “The spring is busy. We’ve learned that. We’ve got a couple [of] big spring events that bump into our schedule, like the NCAA basketball tournament or the Masters. … We can use that platform to really help us get a better opportunity for people to watch and come to the stadium by having the Friday night game.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him at @eric_d_williams.
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