UFL Averages 816K Viewers in the 2024 Regular Season

The United Football League (UFL) was founded on Dec. 31, 2023, and its high-level minor league play began this past March. In its first regular season, the league averaged more viewers than the United States Football League (USFL) and XFL.

UFL's 40 regular-season games on ABC, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1 averaged 816,000 viewers

According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, the UFL’s 40 regular-season games on ABC, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1 averaged 816,000 viewers. Last year, the USFL averaged 601,000 viewers, and the XFL averaged 622,000.

More importantly, the UFL was able to attract a larger audience on broadcast TV. Six games, which were all on broadcast TV, had at least one million football fans tuning in to watch.

UFL regular-season viewership in '24 surged past prior spring football efforts, thanks to improved scheduling & a unified league post @USFL-XFL merger 🏈

Games across Fox, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1 averaged 816,000 viewers this season.

📰 @AustinKarphttps://t.co/YgyCHQwLP3

— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) June 5, 2024

The UFL’s best audience this season was between the St. Louis Battlehawks and Michigan Panthers in Week 1 on ABC. That game in late March drew 1.35 million viewers.

Additionally, the top XFL audience in 2023 came from the Vegas Vipers-Arlington Renegades in mid-February. The Week 1 matchup was the league's most watched game, with 1.55 million viewers on ABC.

The USFL drew a top audience of 2.1 million viewers in 2023 for Memphis Showboats-Michigan Panthers, which aired after the Kentucky Derby on NBC in primetime.

UFL's postseason starts this weekend

Of course, the UFL's hot start gives hope that the spring league will continue to outperform other football leagues that failed to survive in the past.

The Arena Football League (AFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) had financial problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite canceling the 2020 season, the CFL is still going strong, preparing for its 66th season. The 2024 season begins tomorrow on Thursday, June 6, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosting the Montreal Alouettes.

The UFL seems to be thriving now that fans are wanting to watch football games in the spring.

Furthermore, the UFL consists of eight teams, all of whom were members of the XFL or USFL prior to the league's creation. Each team is allowed to have a 75-player roster in training camp. Regular-season rosters require 50 players, and 45 are active on game day.

For those interested, the league's inaugural postseason starts this weekend. The San Antonio Brahmas are at St. Louis Battlehawks and Michigan Panthers are at the Birmingham Stallions. The winners meet on June 16 in St. Louis.

Note that Birmingham won the 2023 USFL championship against the now-inactive Pittsburgh Maulers.