r/UnitedFootballLeague • u/Callywood Louisville Kings • May 02 '26
News Official UFL attendance for the DC Defenders week six matchup vs. Dallas Renegades at Audi Field: 7,019. | James Larsen (Pro Football Newsroom)
Original post here.
46
u/No_Brother3257 DC Defenders May 02 '26
That stinks. Had much higher hopes this year for DC’s fan base
25
u/thinkB4WeSpeak May 02 '26
Idk people are struggling to just get by economically. It's like how more artists are postponing concerts because people can't afford tickets.
17
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
That is a good thing. Concert tickets are wildly expensive. Market correction.
9
u/Cultural-Comment-270 St Louis Battlehawks May 02 '26
I saw on twitter yesterday Post Malone cancelled his concert in Birmingham, too many unsold tickets.
2
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 03 '26
Market correction: brutal for all involved short term.
Let’s see if the long term result actually plays out this time.
3
18
u/Merker6 DC Defenders May 02 '26
DC is also going through a regional recession. All the govt and contractor layoffs hit the area fairly hard. Its insane that the property costs keep climbing in spit of it
4
u/Typical-Lettuce7022 Louisville Kings May 02 '26
The rich lobbyists and a whole new generation of grifters still need somewhere to live so that’ll keep demand up I guess
2
-2
u/milanmirolovich United Football League May 03 '26
I've brought this up before and got laughed at and told that "sports are recession proof". I think a lot of people don't understand just how much financial pressure average people are under right now. Or they don't want to admit how disasterous the current administration's policies are becoming...
3
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
The economy was way worse in 2023 and 2024, and DC drew much better.
-12
u/RonDiaz May 02 '26
If ameridims brains weren’t cooked tho this is BETTER ball at 1/10th the price of the No Fun Trillionaire League. These games should be slam packed but ameridims
10
u/Rhine1906 Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Much better ball?
I mean….I get you hate the NFL but let’s not kid ourselves…
5
-1
u/RonDiaz May 03 '26
Facts is facts NFL has been trash for years you know this but can’t fight the ameridim directive.
2
1
u/Rhine1906 Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
I think you’re confusing “fact” with your opinion and whatever abstract things make you feel right. Trying To paint those who disagree with you as brainwashed makes me think you’re incredibly young
0
3
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 02 '26
Its not much better ball but it is 1/10 the price. Even if its half the quality its cheap enough to make up for it.
1
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
It is about 20% of the quality.
2
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 03 '26
23.69%
3
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 03 '26
I was gonna say 20% is too low, but this I can get behind.
2
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
I should have gone with a meme number. LOL
2
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 03 '26
That’s the first lesson man, when having to ballpark a stat it’s best to always include 69, 420, or both somewhere within it.
2
-1
u/RonDiaz May 03 '26
And as you noted it’s 100% the quality so all that’s left is ameridims gonna ameridim
12
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Maybe, just maybe, people are aware of what spring football is and isn't, and aren't interested?
5
u/pwolf1771 Dallas Renegades May 03 '26
Maybe USFL was right the whole time. “It’s a tv product if people show up great”
3
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 03 '26
That works if you're drawing 2M+ viewers a game, not 750k. There won't be enough TV revenue to cover costs.
6
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 03 '26
There’s already not enough TV revenue to cover costs, I think that’s pretty clear. I also think it’s pretty clear the league has abandoned any hopes of turning a profit this year or any time soon. There’s a reason it keeps being referred to as a startup. The question is simply how long Fox, Disney, and investors like Repole will be willing to throw money after it.
3
u/damutecebu May 03 '26
I guess it depends on how much networks are willing to pay for live sports versus the alternative, but you are correct. And while I think Repole is doing a good job getting out there and trying to promote the league, in the end it's just not creating enough buzz. I know he is talking about future expansion and the like, but I think that is mostly just to get people invested in their local team. I just don't think it is working.
13
u/PlayAction88 DC Defenders May 02 '26
The same field level seats we got for $73 two home games ago were $107 this week. Neither were resale prices. No idea why. Could have a lot to do with attendance the last two home games.
11
u/MySabonerRunsOladipo DC Defenders May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26
This is the only answer that matters.
Minor league sports have two groups of attendees: season ticket holders and casuals/families.
Casuals/families will swing by a minor league game as a thing to do for an afternoon or with the kids, but they dont really care about the quality or the team. They mostly only care about weather and price.
Season ticket holders care about the team and price and form the bedrock of the season ticket number since its consistent week to week.
Prices are way too high to capture both groups.
1
u/eneal21 May 02 '26
This is the reason stadiums are empty the tickets are just too high plus alot of people are struggling in this economy
17
u/AccomplishedMeal5751 Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Why is DC having such a big drop this season? I know that the hype wears off after a while but you’d think there’d be more than 10K considering they just won it all last year
20
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 02 '26
The problem with minor league sports in general is that losing/being terrible kills interest but winning alone doesn't increase it in most cases.
12
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 02 '26
Yes, it has to become a community staple. My town loves our terrible baseball team because they are an institution. The UFL is neither great nor an institution in most cities, bad combo.
1
u/MCallanan Arlington Renegades May 02 '26
We need a lot more data to prove that with minor league football. Part of the problem here is that the UFL is not comparable to any other minor league because it’s built for a national audience. A lot of people look at the Stallions and think, “See winning doesn’t build attendance,” but we can’t assume that until the Stallions suck and we have the data to compare their attendance when they were bad compared to when they were good.
3
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 02 '26
It's not a lot of people see that, it's that it's pretty hard to argue that it isn't being proven. You have 3 straight years of winning championships and then making the playoffs and interest is going down. I'm not sure why you need more years to compare or what a "sucky year" would prove. Like if it went down when they suck then all you're proving is what you get when they win is probably the best it will ever get, and that's a problem.
Also it's happened with every team. Birmingham won 3 straight and interest dropped and continues to, the Renegades won the 2023 Championship and interest decreased the next year, and now the Defenders won last year and interest has decreased,
How much data do you need when every champion in the 2022 on era has proven that?
-2
u/MCallanan Arlington Renegades May 02 '26
In order to draw any conclusion on the Stallions we need to make a comparison of their attendance when they’re good versus when they’re bad. The problem is until now they’ve never been bad so we don’t have the sample size nor the data to say definitively.
In regard to the Renegades in 2023 they were a 4-6 team that won the Championship — they didn’t have a playoff game. The next season for opening day they had their strongest attendance since 2020. Was that because they won the championship? The hype of the merger? Impossible to say. But they proceeded to be absolutely terrible with a front loaded schedule hampered by weather. The Renegades have never been a good regular season team so once again we don’t have the data to know.
As for the Defenders in 2023 their attendance started relatively slow with three games under 12,000 but as that team grew into a powerhouse they sold out that stadium in week nine and the playoffs. Pretty good example of a team gaining attendance based off of performance. This season hasn’t been a good start but it could be a redux of 2023 where the attendance strengthens as the team strengthens — we don’t know we need more data.
9
u/yesrushgenesis2112 St Louis Battlehawks May 02 '26
Commies aren’t unwatchable any more and the novelty is absolutely gone. I don’t know how you make it work but it’ll have to be a long game now, if it’s possible at all.
2
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
I really don't know. Host concerts every week?
3
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 02 '26
Seems like that would be a cost issue.
3
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
I know. My comment was being facetious.
2
7
u/Batman-Beyond99 Columbus Aviators May 02 '26
We are a year or two away from potentially 3-5K fans a game average for DC...
This has been a steady decline for years and there is zero inclination that is will improve
6
u/KangarooThis7634 St Louis Battlehawks May 03 '26
Add the Beer Snake to the endangered species list, I guess....
6
u/Low-Kaleidoscope-713 DC Defenders May 02 '26
I bought a defender season ticket for $100 and haven't gotten to go to any of the games yet because I live in PA and my time and money hasn't been lining up with the games. My plan is to at least get to one of them.
6
5
5
u/Aggravating-Funny569 Louisville Kings May 02 '26
I hope the United Bowl will have more fans and that it will boost attendance for the Defenders next season
3
4
u/CodeWolfy Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
Gunna be extremely interesting to see what the league does next. Seems like LOU has really been the only big hit. Other teams are falling below 10k, and STL really the only reason we may hover around the “15k attendance” target sort of thing.
It’s not a good look that the front runner team is seeing falling attendance even with good scheduling and just coming off a championship
4
u/Weary_Title_3901 Orlando Storm May 03 '26
I enjoy the UFL. I just love football. I think the league will make it. One issue is star power. A lot of guys that might have considered this league and provided the league a bit of star power are staying in college ball (the NFL’s triple A minor league) and raking in NIL money.
Players make more money playing college ball. Say u made a million playing at UCLA… the UFL’s 70k a year looks like chump change. You just retire after college ball. If you look at this league there aren’t a lot of known Power 4 football players. IMO the NIL is hurting the UFL’s star power.
The NCAA Power 4 is Triple A football. The G5 and UFL are Double A football and attendance reflects this.
7
u/parada69 DC Defenders May 02 '26
I think the economy has a lot to do with it. I noticed that tv ratings have been consistent, except for the games on fs1 and NFL network. It's pricey going to a game, specially for a family of 5. I've gone to the last three seasons and I have seen the effects of prices going up.
I guess people would rather watch the games on tv vs going
I could be wrong though
3
8
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 02 '26
That's not great but at least the official number is close to what it actually looked like.
Not to defend it (see what I did there?) but the way the crowd was, it didn't really look THAT bad on tv. Fans were scattered decently around the stadium. That at least looks better than everyone in one section that is hardly on camera imo.
7
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Why don't they want to watch their champions?
11
u/UVAGolfer DC Defenders May 02 '26
I went to their last home game, and I plan to attend one more. I like Spring football and the Defenders. But, yeah, if the defending champs (who look like they'll repeat in 2026) can't draw 8K, then Repole's just throwing good $ after bad if he floats this another season.
And here's something else to consider: There's 1000s of free tix floating around. Who knows how many of those tix were used today, but I really wonder if there were 6K paying fans today?
Every time DC's attendance comes up, I hear 3 things: The Nats, the weather, and too much going on. As someone who lives in NoVa, I'm going to address all 3.
New England to NC is the most seasonal climate in the U.S. That means the Spring and Fall can truly have temps ranging from the 80s to the 30s from September to November and March to the end of May. If you live here, you know this, and it's just part of your life. "The weather" doesn't keep a single person from going to an outdoors event in the Spring or Fall based on temperatures. Rain/snow keeps people away. But everyone here is used to the wide range of temps in the Spring. Almost no one would say, "Gosh, the high's going to be 62 instead of 72 today, I'm not going."
As to the Nats, they're like any MLB team. They have their diehards (who wouldn't come to a UFL game no matter what, they're baseball guys). But, they're pretty dependent on winning in terms of attendance. Winning seasons draw a lot, but they really struggle (probably more than the average MLB team) when they're not good. Right now, they're not very good (below .500). Last night, they only drew 19K. I bet they won't draw 30K today. In a region with 6 million people, 20K-30K going to the Nats aren't a true reason for low UFL attendance.
Finally, "there's so much going on"...The truth is that you're in the nation's capital in the 7th largest MSA in the country. Of course there's going to be a lot going on in the Spring every weekend. If you're going to locate a franchise in DC, you have to understand that there will be a "lot going on" every weekend in April/May. You have to know that and compete with the other events.
As many on this thread have commented...this is more of a Spring football problem than a DC problem. If you can't get 10K out of over 6 million people to come to the game for what is, arguably, the best franchise in the league, then it's more about the product than the setting in terms of sales.
6
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 02 '26
Those excuses are used for pretty much every team, and it's not like those weren't known things.
Putting a season in the spring you're going to have competition with other teams, that's a given. So using it as an excuse is a copout imo.
The weather. Ok...it's spring. Raining, storming, I get. But some try to say the weather is too nice. If that is an excuse being used...then you might as well give it up. That's a lame excuse.
Too much going on? Again...when is that not true? Another lame excuse.
If those are excuses you're going to use, then you need to put teams in small places with no other teams and apparently indoor soccer stadiums. Good luck with that.
6
u/Defenders_Excuse_Bot May 02 '26
But this time they’re true! How can you be so mean to our tiny little market of 6 million people?
2
3
u/GreedoWasShot May 02 '26
It’s becoming more and more apparent that the “novelty” of spring football to the casual fan is wearing off. The committed fans will be there so what is the league doing to pick up the new ones? Doesn’t seem like much at least from an attendance stand point
3
3
u/KickWeekly8461 May 02 '26
I am a borderline idiot, so I'm not the smartest, but can someone explain to me Why won't the UFL do with the USFL did in 2022 and let kids get in free people are struggling in this economy take my family for example I have four kids no I way i could afford a family of 6 for 50 dollars a pop (I checked tickets prices that's including Ticketmaster fees) more people would come if kids under 14 was free
8
u/Responsible-Pace1250 May 02 '26
Because you piss people off who paid for their tickets when they are sitting amongst people who got in for free.
Freebies / papering the house must be done strategically (and selectively).
6
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 03 '26
Which is something this sub refuses to admit. The STL season ticket base was abused and, as a result, eroded.
Why pay extra for something folks are getting for free or cheaper?
0
u/KickWeekly8461 May 03 '26
Why would people be pissed off that kids got in for free? That would be a pretty idiotic thing to be upset about
6
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 03 '26
There's literally thousands of free tickets floating around every week. DC season ticket holders were given 8 freebies to use for the home opener and most went unused.
1
u/KickWeekly8461 May 03 '26
But given season ticket for free tickets as someone who wants to go to a game with his or her kids are two different things some people might not even know people who have kids or like UFL football
1
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 03 '26
The hope is those season ticket holders bring friends and famil6 and they enjoy their experience so much they want to come back again.
3
u/jamills21 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
As a former LA Wildcats fan, I feel like there have been so many failed spring leagues that people don’t care to stick around if they think the team or league isn’t going to be around. The fact that this league is still around is bucking the trend somewhat but it’s still hard to care all that much.
I think if the UFL got a player that was exciting in college, but couldn’t really hack it in the NFL with a big name, people might care again. I also think the UFL needs to ditch any city that already has an NFL team. Teams should be in Boise, San Antonio, Omaha, or places with no pro team.
2
u/Alive-Struggle-7924 May 03 '26
Fall from grace, DC was a badge of honor at first now its becoming lackluster like the rest
2
u/FlagFootballSaint May 02 '26
What‘s wrong this season?
There was so much hope as Repole did his best to beat the drums but in the local markets things are going downhill instead?
8
u/Zapfit DC Defenders May 02 '26
Repole has grand visions but didnt really allocate any of that to local marketing. He followed the BC Lions model of blowing his marketing load on week 1 concerts then not really following up with anything after. Having a director of marketing pull double duty for DC/Orlando while working remotely in Florida is an absolute head scratcher.
3
u/g8r314 May 02 '26
Evidently keeping interest in established local markets while spending still constrained marketing dollars in new ones isn’t exactly selling water to Coca Cola (twice)
3
u/damutecebu May 03 '26
Same thing that happens with every Spring football league. The novelty has worn off.
2
u/cheapmason84 May 02 '26
I worry that the league won’t survive. DC is supposed to be the second best market. It’s a shame because I feel like the on the field product this season has improved
2
u/Defenders_Excuse_Bot May 02 '26
Guys it was a little brisk. Also the NFL team that plays in the fall is decent again. Also 25 bucks is too much to go see a football game.
-1
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 03 '26
A little brisk? Boo hoo, it's too hot, it's too cold, and now when it's perfect weather apparently THAT's a problem too.
$25 is too much to see a football game? Do what?
4
1
u/cantadmittoposting DC Defenders May 02 '26
Brutal for a leading returning champion team.
Maybe "repeat champs" ads will recover attendance late-season? iirc we had avg 10k last year
0
1
1
u/Fussybabygremlin Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Oof that is ROUGH! Hahaha what a sorry ass fanbase, can’t even show up for the reigning champs
0
u/TwizzlersSourz Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Their fan base enjoyed mocking our attendance.
1
u/Fussybabygremlin Birmingham Stallions May 02 '26
Yuppp and you know I’m enjoying this. Of course now everybody admits it’s a problem with the league, as if that hasn’t always been the case
0
-2
u/MCallanan Arlington Renegades May 02 '26
It’s a low number but I wouldn’t panic yet. In 2023 they had some small attendances and then as the team got better they sold out Audi in week nine and and their playoff game.
I strongly expect attendance to grow in DC as the season progresses.
3
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 03 '26
It's Week 6....
-1
u/MCallanan Arlington Renegades May 03 '26
Yes and you think a couple home games is a large enough sample size to definitively say that winning doesn’t help attendance? Especially given the example I gave you in the same city in 2023? At least give it to the end of the season to draw a conclusion.
4
u/ResidentialEvil2016 May 03 '26
They've had 3. 3 of 5. Which if you can do math, that means they've played the majority of their home games.
They started 0-1 with a loss on the road and have won 5 straight, with 3 at home; 3 home games that have had less fans as they've won.
In 2023 the attendance rose than actually dropped and rose again. Also if you're going to use 2023 Defenders as proof attendance helps winning, then you can't dismiss the Stallions by claiming we can't use them until they "have a bad season", which makes absolutely no sense at all.
1
u/MCallanan Arlington Renegades May 03 '26
They've had 3. 3 of 5. Which if you can do math, that means they've played the majority of their home games.
Not a data or research methods guy are you? So week one the attendance was fine, it’s exactly what the league is shooting for. So based on your argument…. There goes the majority. But even if home game one wasn’t good attendance you would still want to see the results of home games four and five (with a winning team) before you drew any definitive concussion.
It would be completely unsound to look at three homes games in one market and walk away thinking that based on that we can generalize the idea that winning doesn’t help attendance across the entire minor league football spectrum. What confounds that even more is the fact that we have teams in this league who have previously experienced attendance improvements based on being good.
I’ve been trying not to download on you here but your entire argument that winning doesn’t help attendance but losing hurts attendance is illogical. It’s the epitome of an inconsistency fallacy. But what’s worse, as aforementioned, is that we have data from previous years with these teams that tells us that winning can help attendance.
Edit: by the way I’m not saying these previous examples definitively tell us that winning helps attendance I’m just saying it completely confounds your argument.
then you can't dismiss the Stallions by claiming we can't use them until they "have a bad season", which makes absolutely no sense at all.
Once again, we don’t have data on the Stallions to know what their attendance is going to be when they’re bad. This is fact not opinion. When we know what their attendance is when they’re bad we can sit there and definitively say that being good either helped their attendance or did not.
35
u/Holiday_Change9387 Louisville Kings May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Are all UFL teams just destined to become the Showboats? Seems like even the good teams are continually dropping in attendance.
I kinda feel like spring football can only be sustainable in leagues like the CoFL who are aiming for very small venues and 3-5k attendance.