I think it's a mistake to have so many teams in Texas. I think I would have just kept San Antonio and replaced Arlington and Houston with New Jersey and Orlando. I'm curious about where they'll have the teams play. I really think it's important that the teams actually play games in their home market. I thought the DC Defenders were really smart for playing their games at Audi Field, the DC United MLS team's field. The field still has ideal football dimensions but the smaller venue is easier to fill, and the fans are much closer to the field than they are in a typical football stadium so the crowds could be pretty fun. I'd like to see more UFL teams do the same, though I doubt they will.
San Antonio usually produces decent crowds in the Alamodome, so that's always a reason for the minor league teams to have a team there. Dallas and Houston have half the attendance records that San Antonio does. I think they kept Arlington because they won the title last year, and one stayed in Houston just 'cause. The only minor league team in Houston that ever did well as far as attendance was the original Gamblers with Jim Kelly in the old Astrodome. Crowds were small last year for the Roughnecks at the U of H Stadium.
Holy cow! Matt Corral has resurfaced! After a strange disappearance from the NFL, he's the starting QB for the Birmingham team. Also, attendance is about as bad as you'd expect.
Jake Bates kicked a game-winning 64-yard field goal to give Michigan an 18-16 win over St. Louis. Turns out he hadn't kicked a field goal since high school! He went to college as a soccer player, but as a football player was only a kickoff specialist with no FG attempts.
I think Houston got the runt of the litter in the new UFL. The Roughnecks suck. All the Roughnecks are is last years Gamblers with new uniforms. And last years Gamblers sucked as well.
I know the TV broadcasters have to hype up the game and the league, but they just compared coaches who have Super Bowl and NCAA D-I championships to a coach who has an NCAA D-I and XFL championship.
St. Louis just mismanaged the clock in a manner that would make an NFL team blush. It was a big league fuck up.
A rough video from a production standpoint, but offers some insight into where the UFL may be headed next.
Except for St. Louis, attendance is awful. They need to do what the broadcast of USFL hub games did, which is to hide the audience.
I really hate modern broadcasting. I have a 65 inch TV to watch the game, I constantly get the action shrunk down for interviews or to watch a coach call a play. I hate it. Just let me watch the game.
Arlington just needs to run the clock down and attempt the field goal to win the game, but they have no active RBs and other position players are running the ball. So of course the player fumbles but the offense got it back. Arlington makes field goal but leaves a minute on the clock. Michigan has a giant return, plus more on a facemask penalty. Then they miss the field goal but Arlington had 12 men on the field. Then Michigan makes the next field goal. Comedy of errors.
It's painful watching the Roughnecks. Not only are they a bad team in a minor league of bad teams, but their helmets are so gawdawful ugly.
Last years Roughnecks won their division but lost in the playoffs. They were a pretty decent team as far as the XFL goes. Last years Gamblers were a bad team. What happened in the merger was the Roughnecks organization (coach Wade Phillips and the team roster) moved to San Antonio and became the San Antonio Brahmas. And they're doing fairly decent so far this year, but not leading their division like the Roughnecks did last year. The USFL Gamblers organization (coach and players both) were rebranded as the Roughnecks and moved to Houston after playing in a USFL hub city last year. Minor league musical teams so to speak. I wished they'd have just left the Gamblers as the Gamblers instead of renaming them. It wouldn't have helped them be a better team because they're pathetic. But they would have at least had better uniforms. LOL