Gopher123 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 8:15 am
4th&long wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 10:48 pm
Gopher123 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:17 pm
As well as the XFL’s popularity could greatly exceed the USFL’s. For year 1 they did a respectable job but they better bring more than a second hub to the table for year 2 if they want to keep people excited, IMO.
It may not be in the cards for USFL 2.0 to do that. I imagine all of us here will be watching XFL and USFL its basically 80% not concurrent.
While I do agree that playing in market helps build fan base in that market, it still is only 5 games. Also - I do not buy that people OUT of the market are going to care if they play in said market.
I think the fans out of market will care if they tune into a game in which they see 18k-30k excited fans pumped up for spring football. After people watch a 10-12 week season of that with the XFL, the 50 people that show up for a televised USFL game is going to look that much worse. The spring football crowd is only so big right now, so my concern if I’m the USFL is that my product is going to look like it came out of the bargain bin. That could start having a noticeable impact on those all important tv numbers.
Unfortunately I don’t think there’s enough of us on here to carry both leagues to the finish line. By the time the USFL kicks off next year, there will have been over 30 straight weekends of football counting NFL preseason. I’m not saying that there isn’t going to still be an appetite for the USFL but I think there’s going to be less of one for a league that could start to be looked upon as the poor man’s XFL, especially if its main marketing strategy is “ hey we made it to year 2”.
USFL is the poor man's XFL, except on the field. So I hear you but...
1) When will people take that FB break? During March Madness? The Masters? MLB opening weekend? The start of NHL and NBA playoffs?
2) Nothing says the XFL 3.0 will have large crowds like XFL 2.0. They may, but they may not. And what will it cost to obtain them?
3) Will USFL appeal to some cities more than and XFL others - quite possibly.
4) Will the USFL's 2 hubs mitigate the crowd issue? Very likely.
Let's boil it down to say the USFL is likely looking to have 20+ games in front of a decent crowd to help the "optics" or whatever. That covers all the reg season broadcast games+.
From a cost perspective they do not need to have a full second Hub to accomplish this, at least for all the broadcast and some cable.
For example at Philly: 6 games
- Wk 1 NJ at Philly
- Wk 2 Pitt at Philly; Mich at NJ
- Wk 3 Mich at Philly; Pitt at NJ
- Wk 4 Philly at NJ
Of course this could start any week.
(With Houston the 3rd largest market - they can try 2-3 games there as well. (Or Mich/TB))
Plus 5 games in busing from Birm to NOLA.
This has is a VERY cost effective way to get to 21 games with fans, WHILE maximizing the existing Hub of Birm.
I think we'll see something along these lines in 2023.
So even a partial hub in Philly (pseudo NJ) + some NOLA busing games could work nicely.
I agree that winter has its advantages - been saying that from day one - but the FB itself is going to be very comparable and who watches when may differ for these leagues.