So far, things aren’t turning around for the UFL.
Friday night, the league went directly up against Day 2 of the NFL Draft. Predictably, that didn’t go so well for the spring football league. The Birmingham Stallions and Memphis Showboats averaged just 467,000 viewers on Fox, peaking at 681,000 viewers, per pro football writer Mike Mitchell.
By comparison, Day 2 of the NFL Draft averaged 7.3 million viewers across television and streaming, including a broadcast network competitor in ABC.
Friday’s game continues a poor run of ratings for the UFL, which is struggling in its second year since the XFL-USFL merger unified the spring football circuit. Few games have eclipsed last year’s season-long average of 816,000 viewers. But reaching fewer than half a million viewers in primetime on a broadcast network marks a new low.
So far, not a single UFL game has eclipsed one million viewers this season.
The poor viewership once again raises questions about the commercial viability of spring football in the United States. In Year 2, the UFL isn’t faring all that much better than the numerous now-defunct spring leagues of yesteryear.
If this trend continues, it’s reasonable to wonder if the UFL will reach Year 3.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.