🏈 The United Football League (UFL) 2024 Thread 🏈

nutildah

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Quote from: ChiBitCTy on June 02, 2024, 11:01:30 PM

I would like to see the CFL combine with the UFL. I think for there to be any way for any of these leagues to be remotely entertaining, they all need to join forces.

That's actually a great idea. CFL has been around since the 50's, but I don't think UFL will survive on its own. CFL has 9 teams (weird, 5 teams in 1 division & 4 in the other; why not just make it 10), so combining with the UFL would make for a total of 17 teams.

I would also start earlier in the year, like the UFL did, just to avoid overlap with NFL season. Surprisingly, there's never been an NFL team in Canada, although there was efforts to bring one to Toronto some years back.

ChiBitCTy

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Quote from: nutildah on June 02, 2024, 10:56:41 PM

Quote from: ChiBitCTy on May 23, 2024, 06:20:06 PM

Is the CFL still a thing?

Yes it is, but it partially overlaps with the NFL season, and unless you're in Canada you need an ESPN+ subscription to watch it.

In case anybody cares, we're about 1 week away from the USFL Conference Finals and 2 weeks away from the Championship:

So half the teams in the league make it to the playoffs. The Birmingham Stallions are the clear favorites to win the championship, with a 9 and 1 record.

Here is their YouTube channel where they have extensive highlight clips of each game:

https://www.youtube.com/@theUFL

Ah good to know thanks. I would like to see the CFL combine with the UFL. I think for there to be any way for any of these leagues to be remotely entertaining, they all need to join forces. I watched some of the UFL game that was on ESPN yesterday when a buddy of mine stopped by. We kinda wanted to watch something "neutral" sports related, and that was our only optoin..it got turned off after about a half hour.

nutildah

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Quote from: ChiBitCTy on May 23, 2024, 06:20:06 PM

Is the CFL still a thing?

Yes it is, but it partially overlaps with the NFL season, and unless you're in Canada you need an ESPN+ subscription to watch it.

In case anybody cares, we're about 1 week away from the USFL Conference Finals and 2 weeks away from the Championship:

So half the teams in the league make it to the playoffs. The Birmingham Stallions are the clear favorites to win the championship, with a 9 and 1 record.

Here is their YouTube channel where they have extensive highlight clips of each game:

https://www.youtube.com/@theUFL

ChiBitCTy

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Quote from: nutildah on May 22, 2024, 09:35:29 PM

Quote from: South Park on May 22, 2024, 12:56:39 PM

I hope the UFL comes back but the higher ups really need to make some changes when it comes to its schedule, even for highly motivated fans like us, it is very difficult to watch the games, the NFL can get away with their fans requiring several subscriptions to watch the games because it is the NFL, but the UFL cannot do this, also it is ridiculous how the UFL is incapable to repeat the same schedule from one week to the next, which has made me to miss many games, and so far with the season already ending I have been only able to watch three of them.

Agreed... I haven't been able to watch any games live at all. But they do upload the full games to YouTube sometimes. The other thing that makes it subpar compared to NFL for me is the lack of name recognition... I don't know any of these dudes, at all. They need to bring in failed NFL coulda-beens to spice things up, even as a marketing gimmick. Such as Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel, who is actually playing in the Canadian Football League (they probably pay better is why).

I couldn't agree more. I have watched a couple of these games so far, and continue to find the games quite boring. I've given it an honest to goodness chance. I literally went though every teams roster and scrolled up and down this hoping to find at least someone who was an x NFL football player or even an x stud college player. I didn't recognize one singe name. I am a nut about NFL football, college I loosely watch but I would still think there had to be someone I'd recognize, nope.

Is the CFL still a thing?

nutildah

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Quote from: South Park on May 22, 2024, 12:56:39 PM

I hope the UFL comes back but the higher ups really need to make some changes when it comes to its schedule, even for highly motivated fans like us, it is very difficult to watch the games, the NFL can get away with their fans requiring several subscriptions to watch the games because it is the NFL, but the UFL cannot do this, also it is ridiculous how the UFL is incapable to repeat the same schedule from one week to the next, which has made me to miss many games, and so far with the season already ending I have been only able to watch three of them.

Agreed... I haven't been able to watch any games live at all. But they do upload the full games to YouTube sometimes. The other thing that makes it subpar compared to NFL for me is the lack of name recognition... I don't know any of these dudes, at all. They need to bring in failed NFL coulda-beens to spice things up, even as a marketing gimmick. Such as Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel, who is actually playing in the Canadian Football League (they probably pay better is why).

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I am terrible at Fantasy Football!!!

Quote from: nutildah on May 12, 2024, 10:41:38 PM

snip

Hard to tell whether or not they will keep the league going for next year. Doesn't seem to be any more interest in it than there was for the XFL or USFL. Wonder if they are making money or not.

I hope the UFL comes back but the higher ups really need to make some changes when it comes to its schedule, even for highly motivated fans like us, it is very difficult to watch the games, the NFL can get away with their fans requiring several subscriptions to watch the games because it is the NFL, but the UFL cannot do this, also it is ridiculous how the UFL is incapable to repeat the same schedule from one week to the next, which has made me to miss many games, and so far with the season already ending I have been only able to watch three of them.

nutildah

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3 games to go in the regular season, and 3 teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention -- that's nearly half the league, lol.

Attendance has been relatively poor at most games, with the average attendance being around 10k-11k. Just look how empty the ends are:

For whatever reason, the St. Louis Battlehawks have the most fans. In Week 2, they had a home game with over 40k in the stands -- the highest for any game in the league. They play at The Dome, where the Rams initially played when they made the move from L.A. in 1995. So 40k is about 2/3 of the stadium's total capacity.

Hard to tell whether or not they will keep the league going for next year. Doesn't seem to be any more interest in it than there was for the XFL or USFL. Wonder if they are making money or not.

nutildah

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The inaugural UFL season is now halfway over (minus 2 games to be played today):

I watched a good chunk of the Birmingham Stallions (5-0) vs. Houston Roughnecks (1-4) game today, and its clear that the Stallions are a cut above the other 7 teams. If there's action to be taken on any of the sportsbooks for who will win this year's championships game, its them. They are simply far better on both sides of the ball than all the other teams. Their QB, Matt Corral, was drafted 2022 3rd round by the Carolina Panthers, but suffered a leg injury in a preseason game, missed the entire season, and was cut the following year.

Wouldn't be surprised to see this guy return to the NFL next year -- he seems like the most likely contender among players whose returns are unknown.

Hueristic

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Quote from: nutildah on April 21, 2024, 06:04:21 AM

I think the 3 options for the PAT make the games a little more exciting as it adds in a new element of strategy not possible in the NFL. Games can suddenly become a lot closer, leads can change more quickly, and what seem like easy wins can easily be blown by going for the additional point(s). Gonna make an attempt to watch a full game for the first time tomorrow.

4th and 12 adds a real chance to come from behind!

nutildah

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We had 3 games yesterday (winners in bold):

Memphis Showboats vs. St. Louis Battlehawks (17-32)
DC Defenders vs. Birmingham Stallions (18-20) -- Stallions move to 4-0, best record in the league
Michigan Panthers vs. San Antonio Brahmas (9-19)

Tomorrow's game:

Arlington Renegades vs. Houston Roughnecks (2:00 pm EST)

I think the 3 options for the PAT make the games a little more exciting as it adds in a new element of strategy not possible in the NFL. Games can suddenly become a lot closer, leads can change more quickly, and what seem like easy wins can easily be blown by going for the additional point(s). Gonna make an attempt to watch a full game for the first time tomorrow.

nutildah

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Quote from: Hueristic on April 18, 2024, 12:39:04 PM

Quote from: nutildah on April 18, 2024, 03:13:14 AM

Houston Roughnecks 0–3

Anyone else's brain always make this team the Rednecks?

Well they are in Houston. That probably biases your brain.

Still weird to me that they would decide to leave out, oh, just the entire Rocky Mountains and west coast from the league. Maybe it makes it easier on their travel budget. Maybe they'll increase the number of teams next year? I suppose this is just the trial year to see if they can make money at all.

Hueristic

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Quote from: nutildah on April 18, 2024, 03:13:14 AM

Houston Roughnecks 0–3

Anyone else's brain always make this team the Rednecks?

nutildah

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Here's a breakdown of the current league standings:

USFL Conference

Birmingham Stallions 3–0
Michigan Panthers 2–1
Memphis Showboats 1–2
Houston Roughnecks 0–3

XFL Conference

St. Louis Battlehawks 2–1
San Antonio Brahmas 2–1
DC Defenders 2–1
Arlington Renegades 0–3

Still 5 more weeks of play. TBH I've been too busy to really follow it, but part of me really wants to get into it, to somehow make the playoffs exciting, and the final game exciting. That would be a sign of success in my book. Then only a few more months after that before NFL can start again...

ChiBitCTy

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I was on The Rocks instagram page one of these days recently and he was talking about the kick off to the UFL league. Did any of you guys watch that Larry David interview on the Rich Eisen show that I posted above? If you're a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, I can't recommend that interview enough. It's absolutely hilarious. Again he talks to The Rock about removing the goal posts, and set a precedent for the NFL. Just typical hilarious LD

nutildah

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Quote from: South Park on April 08, 2024, 04:08:08 PM

Finally got around to watch one of the games, last week I tried by all means possible and I could not find a way to watch them, but I could watch one this week, and while obviously the quality of play is lower and the speed of the game seems a little slow, this is helping with my NFL withdrawal symptoms, one interesting fact is that during the Renegades and Battlehawks game there was a 40k attendance on the stadium, which compared to the attendance over the rest of the games is huge, and this could be a signal for the NFL to consider sending a NFL franchise over to St. Louis as some point on the future.

Yeah for me because of time zone and lack of cable TV options, I've just been watching the recaps on YouTube. This is their official channel BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/@theUFL/featured

I like how the highlights of the games are summarized in 15 mins, but its hard to really get to know the players in such a short amount of time. The stadium at the Stallions/Panthers game looked half empty, but the crowd that was there did seem to be enjoying themselves. Gonna be watching as much of it as possible as it seems to be a bit higher quality of play than college level (if I should be so bold to make such a claim).

Game highlight reels for your easy reference (winning team bolded):

Birmingham Stallions vs. Michigan Panthers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx24IqNLFXE
Houston Roughnecks vs. D.C. Defenders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpaEBN_288
Arlington Renegades vs. St. Louis Battlehawks (potentially best game): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrW0S3zgTYo
San Antonio Brahmas vs Memphis Showboats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SqhTBx0WKw

Right now, the Stallions seem to be the dominant team out of the 8. They are 2-0 so far and were the winners of the USFL championships in 2022 and 2023, after all.

South Park

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Finally got around to watch one of the games, last week I tried by all means possible and I could not find a way to watch them, but I could watch one this week, and while obviously the quality of play is lower and the speed of the game seems a little slow, this is helping with my NFL withdrawal symptoms, one interesting fact is that during the Renegades and Battlehawks game there was a 40k attendance on the stadium, which compared to the attendance over the rest of the games is huge, and this could be a signal for the NFL to consider sending a NFL franchise over to St. Louis as some point on the future.

Hueristic

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Quote from: nutildah on March 31, 2024, 10:55:21 PM

Far more interesting and well-put together than I was expecting. Will probably be following it weekly going forward.

Games were on ESPN today, had them playing while doing other shit.

nutildah

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Here you go, some highlights of Sunday's UFL games. Winners are bolded. (it looks exactly like NFL, just mostly players we've never heard of, the uniforms are a bit more bold in their color/fashion schemas, and the talent level certainly more resembles farm leagues, but thats to be expected):

Arlington Renegades vs. D.C. Defenders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvdJOi2mpYw
Memphis Showboats vs. Houston Roughnecks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8pTVkY5nKE
St. Louis Battlehawks vs. Michigan Panthers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6pK_qUoPi8

Also they have entire games on their YouTube channel as well.

I was impressed by the amount of scoring: 61 pts, 30 pts, and 34 pts.. There's a few more ways to score because of the whole additional PAT rules, and I think the refs are committed to keeping the game rolling and not dragging it out with too many penalties, reviews, etc.

Far more interesting and well-put together than I was expecting. Will probably be following it weekly going forward.

ChiBitCTy

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Quote from: nutildah on March 24, 2024, 09:12:45 PM

So I looked into it a bit and it appears there are several cable and streaming options available for watching UFL games. The only problem for me is that they start mostly at the worst times possible.. Only "early" games, no "late" games.

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/movies/ufl-schedule-teams-watch-everything-155053804.html

Quote

How to watch the UFL

The UFL is going to be readily available for anyone who wants to watch it, as all games are going to air on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox or FS1.

All of the networks are pretty readily available through traditional pay-TV subscriptions and live TV streaming services; Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV all carry both Fox and ESPN as part of their channel lineups.

I have no idea what YouTube TV is, but guess I'll take a look at it & attempt to determine if its a total ripoff or not. I know there's also the sketchy free streaming service links but have no idea what URL they go by these days.

Television as we knew it just a few years ago, and for many of us, our entire lives growing up is quickly fading in to the history books. Cable providers like Xfinity (really their name is Comcast but they are so hated they rebranded a few years back), DirectTV, a satelite provider who was once great until the criminals at AT&T bought it and ruined it, and Dish Network are fading out as they are too expensive and steaming is the new norm. Now some of them will likely become steaming platforms, and hell may be already, but YouTube TV and Sling, pure streaming services where you get no boxes, satelite dishes, remote controls or anything are becoming the go to for many. It was okay at first but they are both already getting way too expensive , limited channels, bs pricing for stuff like 4K (which isn't even legit 4k yet, and wont be for years), and then like my YT TV bill which isl ike 80 USD a month includes nothing like HBO, Netflix etc. I thought a la cart TV would be awesome...just the opposite..course.

nutildah

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So I looked into it a bit and it appears there are several cable and streaming options available for watching UFL games. The only problem for me is that they start mostly at the worst times possible.. Only "early" games, no "late" games.

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/movies/ufl-schedule-teams-watch-everything-155053804.html

Quote

How to watch the UFL

The UFL is going to be readily available for anyone who wants to watch it, as all games are going to air on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox or FS1.

All of the networks are pretty readily available through traditional pay-TV subscriptions and live TV streaming services; Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV all carry both Fox and ESPN as part of their channel lineups.

I have no idea what YouTube TV is, but guess I'll take a look at it & attempt to determine if its a total ripoff or not. I know there's also the sketchy free streaming service links but have no idea what URL they go by these days.

Topic: 🏈 The United Football League (UFL) 2024 Thread 🏈 (Read 380 times)