USFL anyone still watching some of the games?

[BermyStar]

I watched a bit of B'Ham vs Philly over the weekend. I enjoyed it.

 

[jazzcat22]

Lol I forgot they were still playing.

I did too. I watched the 1st half of the 1st game. 5 or 10 minutes here and there the next week. Forgot about it sense.

If I knew when they were on, I might check in once in a while. But the biggest part of not looking at when they play. There are no teams I would be interested in, to follow to invest any of my time.
If the DFW are had a team, then I would watch more most likely.

 

[KJJ]

While flipping channels I’ve skimmed over a few games and hardly anyone was in the stands. Some stadiums look empty. If fans aren’t going to the games they’re going to have a tough time making it through the season. I don’t know why they keep trying to make this work very few are interested.

 

[RonnieT24]

I have not been watching but I wish I could. Once football season is over the wife demands to be the center of the universe again.. I'm still mad that she acted like she loved football before we were married and now has no interest.. False advertising!!! I want a refund! Oh well.. 21 years in I guess the warranty has probably expired by now! LMAO! On the plus side if I wanna take in a random game I only have to buy one ticket now.. so there's always a silver lining.

 

[RonnieT24]

While flipping channels I’ve skimmed over a few games and hardly anyone was in the stands. Some stadiums look empty. If fans aren’t going to the games they’re going to have a tough time making it through the season. I don’t know why they keep trying to make this work very few are interested.

It's not about the gate, man.. It's about the TV eyeballs. If they can get even a couple million eyeballs watching the games it's a win for the networks. They don't need NFL ratings.. they just need to match or better MLB.. which I suspect they probably do.. But who knows..

 

[Ranched]

I watched, cuz I like football...

You like mens mud wrestling too. What's your point?!

 

[KJJ]

It's not about the gate, man.. It's about the TV eyeballs. If they can get even a couple million eyeballs watching the games it's a win for the networks. They don't need NFL ratings.. they just need to match or better MLB.. which I suspect they probably do.. But who knows..

If they’re not showing up at the gate they’re not watching it on TV. No one’s watching that’s why these leagues keep folding. The NFL owners lost a lot of money when no one could come to the games in 2020. You need fans coming to the games and watching them on TV to survive.

 

[RonnieT24]

If they’re not showing up at the gate they’re not watching it on TV. No one’s watching that’s why these leagues keep folding. The NFL owners lost a lot of money when no one could come to the games in 2020. You need fans coming to the games and watching them on TV to survive.

I dunno man.. The math doesn't add up.. Each NFL team gets about $250 million a year from the latest TV contract. The average NFL team attendance was reported to be about 67,500 in 2021. In order for the ticket revenue to match that the average ticket price would have to be over $460 a pop.

According to statista:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/193595/average-ticket-price-in-the-nfl-by-team/

the highest average ticket price in 2021 was the Raiders at $153.47. Now we know the Cowboys led the league in attendance at 80,403/game in 2021. The Cowboys average ticket price was $99.50. That means each home game gate was worth on average $8 million and change to Jerry. Multiply that by 8 and he pocketed $64 million from ticket sales in 2021. Or about a fourth of what the TV number was. Now we all know that in game attendance also results in beer and hot dog sales.. but not every team owns its own concessions and parking and what not. And it aint equaling another 20 million per game anyway! Yes it contributes to the bottom line.. but it's the smaller slice of the pie not the larger. And remember this iteration of the USFL has a tiny salary cap and no travel expenses. I suspect the TV money more than covers their payroll.

 

[KJJ]

I dunno man.. The math doesn't add up.. Each NFL team gets about $250 million a year from the latest TV contract. The average NFL team attendance was reported to be about 67,500 in 2021. In order for the ticket revenue to match that the average ticket price would have to be over $460 a pop.

According to statista:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/193595/average-ticket-price-in-the-nfl-by-team/

the highest average ticket price in 2021 was the Raiders at $153.47. Now we know the Cowboys led the league in attendance at 80,403/game in 2021. The Cowboys average ticket price was $99.50. That means each home game gate was worth on average $8 million and change to Jerry. Multiply that by 8 and he pocketed $64 million from ticket sales in 2021. Or about a fourth of what the TV number was. Now we all know that in game attendance also results in beer and hot dog sales.. but not every team owns its own concessions and parking and what not. And it aint equaling another 20 million per game anyway! Yes it contributes to the bottom line.. but it's the smaller slice of the pie not the larger. And remember this iteration of the USFL has a tiny salary cap and no travel expenses. I suspect the TV money more than covers their payroll.

I’m just telling you what was reported. The league took a hit in 2020 when fans weren’t able to attend games. It resulted in a loss of revenue and affected the salary cap.

 

[Runwildboys]

Forgot it was even a thing.

 

[G2]

Yes and I still watch as much as possible. It's not the NFL but it's not bad at all.

My take as well.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

I watched for just a few minutes. Hate to see a business go down the tubes, but the stadium sure looked semi-empty.

You're being kind saying the stadiums look semi-empty. Almost every game I have seen televised looks like this. I am almost certain that the telecasts are using artificial crowd noise.

 

[KJJ]

You're being kind saying the stadiums look semi-empty. Almost every game I have seen televised looks like this. I am almost certain that the telecasts are using artificial crowd noise.

The attendance at these games reflects the lack of interest. I can’t imagine these games are drawing even decent TV ratings. They had more fans coming to the games in previous years.

 

[FVSTONE]

I watch the ones on Fox or Nbc.
usually I just watch the 2nd half. Or I might have it on during 1st half with sound down.

The game today had a good ending, Pitt Maulers, who had not won a single game , came back to
beat the houston team with a last second td pass! I think they were on the 7 with 4 seconds left.
Their qb had only been with them about 6 days.

Birmingham, and New Jersey are the leading teams at 5-0 and 4-1 and look to be the teams
that will play in the champ game.
Only 5 weeks left in the season.

In one game the sat game, they were saying that the NO team qb had interviews with like 7 nfl teams
after the season, and shortly after that he threw a really bad int in the redzone lol.
I thought well there go some of those interviews !

The houston team lost last week on a final seconds play, and again this week.
Those type games or the end of them are fun to watch.
Like today I did not expect the pitt team to get in for the td, but they did.

you can look at standings, scores etc here
https://www.theusfl.com/standings

They are fun to watch, I am getting to know the teams, and some of the players.
And I have seen some good players.

That would be a HELL NO from me................

 

[RonnieT24]

I’m just telling you what was reported. The league took a hit in 2020 when fans weren’t able to attend games. It resulted in a loss of revenue and affected the salary cap.

Oh I know.. they definitely took a hit having no or reduced gate. But none of them would up in the red because of it.

 

[KJJ]

Oh I know.. they definitely took a hit having no or reduced gate. But none of them would up in the red because of it.

The NFL has been going for a very long time and they know they’ll recover. They took a hit but it wasn’t because of the lack of fan interest. The NFL has no trouble packing stadiums and getting TV ratings. The lack of fan interest in the USFL is bound to catch up with them again.

 

[RonnieT24]

The NFL has been going for a very long time and they know they’ll recover. They took a hit but it wasn’t because of the lack of fan interest. The NFL has no trouble packing stadiums and getting TV ratings. The lack of fan interest in the USFL is bound to catch up with them again.

Could be.. but I do think that if they are able to play games at local stadiums they will get some butts in the seats. With all the games being in Birmingham those are the only games that have anybody in the stands. I can pretty much guarantee you that any team in the South is going to draw. High school games in the South regularly draw 25-30 thousand. I don't think it would take much to do that for this sort of league. Just plant a few well known local legends on the roster. But can it offset the expense of traveling 40 guys plus equipment..

 

[KJJ]

Could be.. but I do think that if they are able to play games at local stadiums they will get some butts in the seats. With all the games being in Birmingham those are the only games that have anybody in the stands. I can pretty much guarantee you that any team in the South is going to draw. High school games in the South regularly draw 25-30 thousand. I don't think it would take much to do that for this sort of league. Just plant a few well known local legends on the roster. But can it offset the expense of traveling 40 guys plus equipment..

I wouldn’t be guaranteeing anything involving the USFL or any of these other leagues. Those who put these leagues together put a lot of time into trying to figure out how to make them appealing to fans and it’s not working. You need the best players in the world to draw fans. These are nothing but scrub leagues.

 

[Motorola]

This would be an interesting league to watch. But it's lacking something. They should tie in a Hard Knocks type of element, and each week cover the journeymen prospects with the highest chances, or highest hope. Something like that would add entertaining drama the league. If a league like this is ever going to be successful, it's going to have to weather the storm and up the ante on its marketing strategy.

It doesn't not my socks off. But it's mildly entertaining. Right now, there's not a huge market for their product. It's going to take some time. There definitely is a market for NFL-offseason football, but they're going to have to be more creative in their approach than what they are now.

There is exactly that program you want -- "United By Football: A Season in the USFL"
It is a collaboration of the USFL, NFL Films, and FOX Sports. (I didn’t know of its existence until a half hour ago .) Check it out.

 

[DandyDon52]

If they’re not showing up at the gate they’re not watching it on TV. No one’s watching that’s why these leagues keep folding. The NFL owners lost a lot of money when no one could come to the games in 2020. You need fans coming to the games and watching them on TV to survive.

KJJ your wrong on all this.
1. you obviously dont know all 8 teams play at that same stadium which is in Birmingham alabama which is a small city compared to say dallas.
As of 2020, Birmingham had a population of 200,733 , if jerrys stadium were there, half the people would have to come to the game to fill it up.
If cowboys played there , there would still probably be empty seats even in that small stadium.
why they chose this city is a mystery, guess it was super cheap, and they dont care about people in stands.'
only the Birmingham team is going to draw a crowd.

2.The NFL owners lost a lot of money when no one could come to the games in 2020......no they didnt lose any money, they took
money from the tv contracts that was to go to the salary cap to make up for the lost home game revenue.
thats why many games had no one in attendance, as it was cheaper to just go with empty stadium, no employees less water and electricity used etc.

3.If they’re not showing up at the gate they’re not watching it on TV they fold.........1st they obviously didnt care about ticket sales to games, or they
would have had each team play in their own city. Fox and Nbc have invested in this, and were not expecting huge ratings,at first.
They wanted 1 mil per game, but as long as they do as good as other sports shows they air, they are ok with the ratings.

The networks get these games cheap, so they can make money off them, unlike nfl games which are the polar opposite. They have to pay big money
to get nfl games, but also charge big for ads. But they can still make money off these usfl games as they get them so cheap compared to other sports they air.'
And if the usfl gains more viewers in future years, both networks win as they still get them at good price and are invested in the league, so make money there too.