The USFL Thread

[KDawg]

So the USFL is trying to get viewers, but as a coach myself… I hate the constant ability to hear the coaches. Maybe the typical fan enjoys that? Maybe? But I don’t enjoy hearing these guys yelling into their headsets. Having the mics live is a cool insight into headset convos but these guys also KNOW they are on comms and live broadcast. 
 

I don’t think it’s a compelling reason to tune in.

[MrJL]

20 minutes ago, NickyJ said:

For the next 2 months, all the teams are going to be playing in the exact same stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. Except for Birmingham's own team, the others represent cities in name only. The stadium is almost entirely empty for the game today. With no home crowds to build up for the other 7 teams, I just don't see how the USFL can last more than a season when the only ticket revenue coming in is for the only team that claims to represent that city.

 

there are two stadiums, but maybe they're hoping to build a fanbase for when they move and they have two major tv networks backing them.  Fox Sports plans on investing for three years at least.

 

And for all these sports leagues where the league owns the teams, I often wonder if they have a plan to put the teams up for sale if the league seems to be working

[BleedBNG]

On 1/20/2022 at 12:02 AM, Malapropismic Depository said:

 

Federals

 

They went 7-22 then became the Orlando Renegades. There were 18 teams last time.

On 1/27/2022 at 2:15 PM, TradeTheBeal! said:

JEFF FISHER CAN KISS MY ASS!

 

 

Stupid Fisher. If he went for the extra points the last 2 TD's he could have tied it up. Of course the FG kickers were so bad maybe not.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33738059/what-know-usfl-rules-coaches-team-quarterbacks-schedule-rosters-salaries-more-inaugural-2022-season

Edited April 17, 2022 by BleedBNG

[Ghost of]

On 4/17/2022 at 2:31 PM, KDawg said:

So the USFL is trying to get viewers, but as a coach myself… I hate the constant ability to hear the coaches. Maybe the typical fan enjoys that? Maybe? But I don’t enjoy hearing these guys yelling into their headsets. Having the mics live is a cool insight into headset convos but these guys also KNOW they are on comms and live broadcast. 
 

I don’t think it’s a compelling reason to tune in.

Yes, if you are modifying their behavior because they know they are on live, that changes the appeal of it. Makes it come off as more fake reality TV. 

 

Also, no, I prefer a lively broadcast booth with two really good announcers with chemistry and preferably great voices.  That has entirely shaped my memory of great sporting events.

[NickyJ]

There might be 200 people in the stands for the game right now. I think the city of Birmingham does not care about Pennsylvania teams. I wonder if any of Pennsylvania cares?

[88Comrade2000]

This league still going? Thought they would've folded after week 1.

 

 

[BleedBNG]

 

[SkinsFTW]

Here is the upcoming schedule and where you can watch the games:

 

May 6: Stars vs. Panthers (10 pm ET, FOX)

May 7: Generals vs. Maulers (2:30 pm ET, Pea****)

May 7: Bandits vs. Stallions (7 pm ET, FOX)

May 8: Gamblers vs. Breakers (3 pm ET, NBC/Pea****)

 

I think part of the problem is that it isn't easy to find this information out. ESPN doesn't even have USFL on their website at all as far as I can tell. 

 

Also, if they really wanted to sell tickets to the games and hold them all in 1 single city then why choose Birmingham Alabama? 

 

Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to play them in Vegas if they could get access to that new stadium and then promote all the games through all of the hotels? Or Orlando? Or anywhere else where lots of people will be going to vacation? 

[MrJL]

1 hour ago, SkinsFTW said:

Here is the upcoming schedule and where you can watch the games:

 

May 6: Stars vs. Panthers (10 pm ET, FOX)

May 7: Generals vs. Maulers (2:30 pm ET, Pea****)

May 7: Bandits vs. Stallions (7 pm ET, FOX)

May 8: Gamblers vs. Breakers (3 pm ET, NBC/Pea****)

 

I think part of the problem is that it isn't easy to find this information out. ESPN doesn't even have USFL on their website at all as far as I can tell. 

 

Also, if they really wanted to sell tickets to the games and hold them all in 1 single city then why choose Birmingham Alabama? 

 

Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to play them in Vegas if they could get access to that new stadium and then promote all the games through all of the hotels? Or Orlando? Or anywhere else where lots of people will be going to vacation? 

 

if you're planning a trip to those places you've got an idea what you want to do and a spring football league isn't on the itinerary.

 

And as I read, the tickets are good for the day and Birmingham has a history of appreciating their spring football teams.  So they probably hoped more people would hang around for the extras

 

And the Friday game is on FS1 not Fox

Edited May 2, 2022 by MrJL

[Spaceman Spiff]

Another spring football league, another failure.

 

These people don't get it.  It's damn near impossible to get people to care about a team from scratch with players they know nothing about.  I mean, I think one of the reasons we're all Redskins/WFT/Commies fans is that we've stuck around for the soap opera for most of our lives.

 

By soap opera, I mean the drama and the stories around the players that traverse in and out of the franchise over the course of time.  Like if you look at the 80s teams, it's...well, we drafted Darrell Green, how's he going to turn out?  And then you watch Darrell Green run down Tony Dorsett on Monday Night Football like Dorsett was no big deal.  And then you watch him return a punt against the Bears in the playoffs, tearing his rib cartilage while doing it.  And then you watch him turn into one of the best cornerbacks ever, the NFL's multiple winner of the Fastest Man Competition, win two Super Bowls, All Pro selections, Pro Bowl selections, All Decade Team...it goes on. 

 

Or a guy like Doug Williams.  Kind of an afterthought, people thought his best years were behind him.  But Joe Gibbs believes in him and soon he supplants Jay Schroeder and leads the team to winning the Super Bowl.  But not just any Super Bowl, he authors the biggest barrage in a quarter in NFL history.  In the same game, a guy name Timmy Smith sets the Super Bowl rushing record and is practically never heard from again.  

 

Just the names from that era; Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic, Dexter Manley, Charles Mann, Art Monk, Gary Clark, Rickey Sanders, Joe Theismann, Mark Rypien...it just goes on and on.  Yeah, we rooted for them because they were Redskins but we loved them because we got to know them.  Same for guys in the 90s when the team wasn't that good, like Terry Allen, Brian Mitchell.  Always wondering if Michael Westbrook is gonna get it together.  But then Stephen Davis surprises you out of nowhere and becomes a feature back (yes, I'm aware of the link between those two).

 

Then Champ Bailey, LaVar Arrington, Clinton Portis...of course Sean Taylor.  You guys get the drift.

 

Following draft picks from the day they're signed, tracking their progress through training camp, seeing how they pan out.  Free agent signings and the interest (or on our case, the eyerolls) they generate.  It's one big soap opera.

 

To me, that's why the NFL succeeds, we're greatly invested in our teams, but I'd argue that we're even more invested in the players.  I mean, look what just happened this last weekend, several of us were glued to our TV to see who we'd pick in the draft.  All of a sudden, we're reading up on Jahan Dotson and dreaming on how he fits into the scheme.  Arguing whether or not Phiddy Cent Mathis was a reach or not.  Pulling for the team to grab Sam Howell in the late rounds.  And now we're invested in those guys, just like we were invested in Terry McLaurin, Ioan, etc. 

 

I would also argue that if this team picked up and moved to St. Louis tomorrow, a lot of our fans would keep following them.  What, you mean to tell me that you wouldn't want to see how Wentz does as a St. Louis Ram?  After all the back and forth about Dotson this past weekend, you'd stop caring?  You wouldn't be interested in seeing how the franchise does or doesn't lock up Terry McLaurin?  

 

The USFL just can't compete with that.  They can't open up a league, put a team in a town and automatically expect people to care about a franchise full of players they know nothing about and have no attachment to, especially if the quality of play isn't as good (newsflash: it probably isn't). 

[SkinsFTW]

Hell, they didn't even put these teams in towns across the country. They just named them for different places and they all play in a medium sized city in Alabama. 

 

WTF?

[NickyJ]

2 hours ago, SkinsFTW said:

Hell, they didn't even put these teams in towns across the country. They just named them for different places and they all play in a medium sized city in Alabama. 

 

WTF?

This is my biggest problem with it. Not having the investment in players hurts, but I can't expect that in a fledgling league from any sport. Knowing that if the players are successful, they'll spend a single season on the team is another problem. But even then, baseball's AA and AAA teams are the same too. The players are farmed there, so it's not like they're expected to last for long. The difference is that the local fans get to watch the local teams in person, and the USFL doesn't offer that.

 

The DC Defenders, while corny and whatever, were seemingly fun for people to watch in person. The beer snake, the fans cheering, etc. The USFL is missing out on that. I still stand by that if teams don't cater to their local markets, they're worthless. I feel as much loyalty to a streamed Madden football team,

[Barry.Randolphe]

If the NFL treated this as a minor league where UDFA's go to get playing time representing an NFL team, there would be way more viewership because of how @Spaceman Spiff describes our investment in the team. You'd want to watch that 6th round CB from ****hole State University get some playing time because he might be a diamond in the rough player that gets called up to the NFL on your favorite team to save the day against Brady in the playoffs.

[MrJL]

and that's probably what the USFL would like to be.  But as short as NFL careers are, I don't buy them sending people to other leagues to get wear and tear.

 

The whole, you have to be invested thing is a nice idea, but the current NFL is over a century old, with only the smallest handful that age.  It's combined portions of three leagues.  It has a team that's barely 20, one under 25, and two more under 30.

 

I think the USFL will be back next year with these teams playing in their home markets

 

And honestly I think most of the major sports leagues in he US have reached a size where if they want to expand a league they can absorb may be the best bet.

 

33 or 34 teams?  Awkward divisions and scheduling. 36?  Try expanding four teams at once.  But let another league build themselves up?

[88Comrade2000]

USFL will fold. I expect the XFL; if the Rock and his people do it right, to last much longer than usfl.

[KDawg]

On 5/2/2022 at 1:29 PM, SkinsFTW said:

Here is the upcoming schedule and where you can watch the games:

 

May 6: Stars vs. Panthers (10 pm ET, FOX)

May 7: Generals vs. Maulers (2:30 pm ET, Pea****)

May 7: Bandits vs. Stallions (7 pm ET, FOX)

May 8: Gamblers vs. Breakers (3 pm ET, NBC/Pea****)

 

I think part of the problem is that it isn't easy to find this information out. ESPN doesn't even have USFL on their website at all as far as I can tell. 

 

Also, if they really wanted to sell tickets to the games and hold them all in 1 single city then why choose Birmingham Alabama? 

 

Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to play them in Vegas if they could get access to that new stadium and then promote all the games through all of the hotels? Or Orlando? Or anywhere else where lots of people will be going to vacation? 

You won't find much from ESPN. They are partnering with the XFL.

[88Comrade2000]

Season 2 in April.

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[88Comrade2000]

Daryl Johnston promoted to USFL president of football operations  

 

The second season of the new iteration of the USFL kicks off next weekend, with two games on Fox on Saturday, one game on NBC and Pea**** on Sunday and one game on FS1 on Sunday.

 

Think they picked a different city this year. Still it's a joke to have all games played in one city.

[88Comrade2000]

Correction. Usfl playing at 4 sites according to nfl network.

[MrJL]

terrible play by Brady White on that pass.  So bad an announcer thought there was a phanom hit

[MrJL]

you know with two teams in Pennsylvania, you'd think they could find a stadium as a base there