Off Topic: Spring leagues

During the last three weeks, I've watched some games in both the USFL and XFL. It's kind of interesting to see them go head-to-head; maybe those were the most football-filled spring weekends since 1985?
 
One question that everyone would like to answer is, "Who's better, the USFL or the XFL?
 
It's a tough question to answer, as both have their highs and lows.
 
In terms of GameDay atmosphere, the XFL has a huge advantage; playing in the actual cities is a big deal, especially in Washington and St. Louis, places where the fans are doing an amazing job; the Ka Haw chants and especially the DC "Beer Snake" are already iconic classics.
 
On the other hand, the XFL on-field product was below my expectations; most of the games have been low-scoring with poor offenses down the field; also, the gimmicky rules such as the extra point and the kickoff are making the league look like something of an amatour; teams like the San Antonio Brahmas, Orlando Guardians, and Arlington Renegades have the most awful or boring offenses I've ever seen; the presentation of itself is also something I didn't like; games at Cashman Field (the worst pro football I've ever seen; that place made the Oakland Coliseum look like a palace); and the majority of the games being broadcast on cable are also low points.
 
Meanwhile, in the USFL, having the teams play in four different cities is a huge improvement from last year's "all Birmingham" model; the crowds in Memphis and Detroit are doing well, and the Canton-based teams also had an okay attendance during last week's game. The fact that Tom Benson Stadium is not so far from Pittsburgh may help the Maullers get some attendance from nearby fans; I saw a lot of Steelers jerseys on the stands last week.
 
In my opinion (as a couch football fan), the highest point of the USFL is the quality of the game. The USFL has been filled with close and high-scoring games, and defenses such as the Michigan Panthers or the Pittsburgh Maullers are fun to watch. The offenses are also great; quarterbacks such as Case Cookus and McLeod Bethel-Thompson are exciting to watch, and the RBs like Darrius Victor are also remarkable. In terms of game quality and presentation, the USFL is way ahead of the XFL. Fox is doing an amazing job promoting the players and the teams; I actually already recognize a few of them.
 
For me, the USFL is a step ahead; the games are way more entertaining, and the play level is also better. Yesterday's Houston-Memphis game was great; they look like a real pro league. I'm also rooting for both leagues to succeed; more football is better for us!

The XFL needs more time to develop, all leagues are rusty in their inaugural season (well first in a while for the XFL), but after their first season it gets better, just like the APFA (now NFL) they had a rough first 10 seasons or so then became this juggernaut in the sporting world. So it takes time.

The USFL on the other hand is in its 2nd season (in a row) and is already doing great, just like you mentioned the only thing left they have to do in the next couple of years is to get teams to play in their home stadium instead of some random stadium across the country.

Let's put the differences aside, they are both spring leagues and we need football year-round. This might be a stretch but I want more spring leagues, maybe a revival of the WFL or AAF, at least the AFL is coming back.

I found the USFL fun to watch last season, and the XFL to be a fun watch this season. XFL does need to take some time to rethink how they will do the playoffs though. With two divisions, a scenario like the one they had this season was bound to happen at some point. For a 10 game schedule, and two 4 team divisions, the best that can be done IMO, is to give the division champions home games, then make the remaining two spots wild card spots, from either division.

One issue I've had with spring leagues is watching the games. With only the basic channels (no ESPN, FS1, etc) I can only watch national telecasts from ABC, FOX, NBC. So I didn't get the chance to watch much XFL this season. The USFL does have a lot more big network games that I can watch, including peacock streaming, and I think that helps the USFL a lot.

Both leagues have been fun to watch. I haven't watched as many games this season as the last two for the XFL/USFL.
I did finally get out to a game in DC yesterday, and I can say, it was a ton of fun. For the XFL, it certainly is better for the in person experience when you can watch your home team in an actual home stadium. I know the USFL is headed that way, and I think it will be better for them once all of their teams are playing in their own home stadium.

Austin Snelick wrote:Both leagues have been fun to watch. I haven't watched as many games this season as the last two for the XFL/USFL.
I did finally get out to a game in DC yesterday, and I can say, it was a ton of fun. For the XFL, it certainly is better for the in person experience when you can watch your home team in an actual home stadium. I know the USFL is headed that way, and I think it will be better for them once all of their teams are playing in their own home stadium.

How was the game? I'm so happy that DC won. Sadly my Birmingham Stallions lost the game I went to, but we will bounce back next week. But at least my DC Defenders are heading to the championship.

Appleman20 wrote:

Austin Snelick wrote:Both leagues have been fun to watch. I haven't watched as many games this season as the last two for the XFL/USFL.
I did finally get out to a game in DC yesterday, and I can say, it was a ton of fun. For the XFL, it certainly is better for the in person experience when you can watch your home team in an actual home stadium. I know the USFL is headed that way, and I think it will be better for them once all of their teams are playing in their own home stadium.

How was the game? I'm so happy that DC won. Sadly my Birmingham Stallions lost the game I went to, but we will bounce back next week. But at least my DC Defenders are heading to the championship.

It was a ton of fun. Got lucky with the rain; stopped before the game started. It was good to see a lot of scoring and DC dominate the second half. I'd definitely go back to a game next year. Problem for me is it's a little bit of a hike to get into the city, so I've only been interested in going to the afternoon games, plus parking is tough down in that area, especially if the Nats are playing the same day.

These are my top 5 favorite uniforms from both the USFL and XFL.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Birmingham is my top as well. Solid both home and away. New Orleans home jerseys are good as well.
Overall, I'm much more of a fan of the XFL uniforms. Some of the sublimation and patterns were a bit much, but Seattle's was great in my book:

Frank wrote:Birmingham is my top as well. Solid both home and away. New Orleans home jerseys are good as well.
Overall, I'm much more of a fan of the XFL uniforms. Some of the sublimation and patterns were a bit much, but Seattle's was great in my book:

The only thing I liked from Seattle was the all-white uniforms they wore vs Orlando. I can't get past the orange. I like Seattle's 2020 uniforms. But overall, I think both leagues did well with their uniforms. Now, I tend to like the USFL's uniforms more than the XFL's because some of the uniforms of the XFL weren't consistent (looking at San Antonio's away uniforms). I do like the basic uniforms from the USFL. Not over the top, but still good.

Here are my picks!

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

My top 3 looks in each league

XFL
1. DC Home
2. Seattle Home
3: Orlando Road

USFL
1: New Jersey Home
2: Philadelphia Road
Tie 3: New Orleans Home
Tie 3: Pittsburgh Road

Anyone watched the USFL north division championship game?

That was amazing, this league deserves more love, they just need to put all the teams in their actual cities and boom, primetime product!

Rafael Menoncin wrote:Anyone watched the USFL north division championship game?

That was amazing, this league deserves more love, they just need to put all the teams in their actual cities and boom, primetime product!

I did. That was a great game. I am going to the South Division Championship game tomorrow. Let's go Stallions.

The Birmingham game was fantastic last night. It was fun beating up the Breakers. Let's get two rings now. Giddy Up.

Breaking News:
The XFL is merging with the USFL.
There are sources saying both leagues are in talks about merging
This is huge on Spring Football fans.

Appleman20 wrote:Breaking News:
The XFL is merging with the USFL.
There are sources saying both leagues are in talks about merging
This is huge on Spring Football fans.

Would be great if the merge kept 8 teams in each league. Would love to see that joint championship game.
As long as the Defenders are still in town though, I'll be happy.

Austin Snelick wrote:

Appleman20 wrote:Breaking News:
The XFL is merging with the USFL.
There are sources saying both leagues are in talks about merging
This is huge on Spring Football fans.

Would be great if the merge kept 8 teams in each league. Would love to see that joint championship game.
As long as the Defenders are still in town though, I'll be happy.

I have a feeling that the XFL is going to absorb the 4 USFL teams with stadiums: Panthers, Showboats, Stallions, and one of the Canton teams (Generals or Maulers). I also think the Vipers move to Nashville over Arizona as those rumours suggest.

As far as I know from rumors, nothing official:
 
- The Gamblers will be the Houston team and will play at Rice Stadium. The Roughnecks brand is likely to be discontinued.
 
- Memphis, Birmingham, and Canton (Generals, Stars, or Maullers) are locks from the USFL side.
 
- Detroit is in talks for renewing the Ford Field lease, likely to have the Panthers back in 2024
 
- The Vegas Vipers are likely to be cut from the league.
 
- DC, Arlington, San Antonio, and St. Louis are locks from the XFL side.
 
- Some USFL teams, such as the Breakers and the Philadelphia Stars, signed players this week.
 
- The XFL showcases are still scheduled.

There is some exciting stuff here.
I'm guessing the merge won't officially happen until 2025, and both leagues will play separately in 2024. But I am hoping the new name is NSFL or TSL. USXFL doesn't sound right or even make sense.

Fox owns the NSFL name therefore that could end up being the merged league’s name.

Following the rumours I now believe that 6 teams from each league will be part of the merger:

XFL: Arlington, DC, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, St Louis
USFL: Birmingham, Houston, Memphis, Michigan, New Orleans, and Philadelphia who will be the Canton team (even though I’d love for them to play in Philly at the MLS Stadium, the University of Pennsylvania’s stadium, or even Villanova’s stadium if 12k capacity works for the league)

Some updates:

-Twelve teams would survive, with each league contributing with 6 franchises

- Six hubs, USFL-style, rather than teams’ home cities.. latest Detroit, Canton, St. Louis are among the six locales under consideration..

Personal opinion: The USFL hub system is awful and hurts the teams and league presentation. I hope they find a way to send all the teams to their local markets,

In my opinion (not based on rumors or sources), if they won't be able to find home to their franchises, they should adopt a different strategy, something similar to the NBA/NHL bubble during the lockdown year, huge LED displays around the playing surface showing fans or whatever they want, anything is better than a giant wall of empty seats

There’s also an alleged rumour that new cities will be in play to host teams. I like the idea of more big non NFL markets such as Louisville hosting a team in this league.

BREAKING NEWS:
ITS HAPPENING BOYS. THE USFL AND XFL ARE OFFICIALLY MERGEING. I got an email saying about the merge, and the USFL and XFL posted about the merge as well.

Just saw this post on Twitter:

"DEVELOPING: Multiple sources have indicated that there is a strong possibility that all eight #USFL teams will survive the USFL-XFL merger.

A 12 team league could feature just four #XFL teams. STL, DC, SA, & Arlington would be the likeliest organizations to survive."

I wonder if they will re-brand the San Antonio Brahmas to the USFL San Antonio Gunslingers name...

Rafael Menoncin wrote:Just saw this post on Twitter:

"DEVELOPING: Multiple sources have indicated that there is a strong possibility that all eight #USFL teams will survive the USFL-XFL merger.

A 12 team league could feature just four #XFL teams. STL, DC, SA, & Arlington would be the likeliest organizations to survive."

I wonder if they will re-brand the San Antonio Brahmas to the USFL San Antonio Gunslingers name...

There’s an IFL team called the San Antonio Gunslingers therefore I think they’ll stick to Brahmas unless they work out a deal with the current Gunslingers.

Rafael Menoncin wrote:Just saw this post on Twitter:

"DEVELOPING: Multiple sources have indicated that there is a strong possibility that all eight #USFL teams will survive the USFL-XFL merger.

A 12 team league could feature just four #XFL teams. STL, DC, SA, & Arlington would be the likeliest organizations to survive."

I wonder if they will re-brand the San Antonio Brahmas to the USFL San Antonio Gunslingers name...

I'm all for a 12 team league, especially if DC survives.
With 12 teams, I wonder how that affects scheduling. With 8 teams, 10 games is an easy formula (home and away series in division, then play the other 4 teams).
With 12, would there be 3 divisions of 4 teams, and a 10 game schedule, rotating which division each other division plays each year?
Would there be two 6 team divisions, and 14 games?
Maybe 14 games with three 4 team divisions.

For a spring league of 12 teams, I think the 10 game schedule with 3 divisions of 4 teams works out well.
If they want to stick with half the teams making the playoffs, then you could have the three division winners with a playoff spot, then the next best three teams get the wild card spots. The top two seeds get a bye.

The official UFL schedule

Appleman20 wrote:The official UFL schedule

Lets Go Showboats!

Rafael Menoncin wrote:

Appleman20 wrote:The official UFL schedule

Lets Go Showboats!

You mean Lets Go Stallions

Appleman20 wrote:

Rafael Menoncin wrote:

Appleman20 wrote:The official UFL schedule

Lets Go Showboats!

You mean Lets Go Stallions    

You mean Let's Go Panthers! (Still the only pro football team representing Detroit to have won a Championship since 1956.)

The GSL is the best spring league, what are you guys talking about?

This is my concept art of what I would love the Stallions football field to be like for the UFL. Would we get this? Probably not.

Appleman20 wrote:This is my concept art of what I would love the Stallions football field to be like for the UFL. Would we get this? Probably not.

The design you've got for the Stallions' endzones reminds me of that the Rams used to have in St. Louis during the Greatest Show on Turf era.

I'm hoping the UFL follows more closely the AAF field model, by having team designs in the endzones and at midfield.

Austin Snelick wrote:I'm hoping the UFL follows more closely the AAF field model, by having team designs in the endzones and at midfield.

I'm hoping for that as well. I want to see how each team would design its field. I did see information about the field in the rule book, and I did see a sentence about how big the logo can be at midfield. Endzones will probably be what the XFL did.

Austin Snelick wrote:I'm hoping the UFL follows more closely the AAF field model, by having team designs in the endzones and at midfield.

According to the ticket website we can expect something closer to this, reminded me of the 2001 XFL anyway, much better than plain green endzones

Rafael Menoncin wrote:

Austin Snelick wrote:I'm hoping the UFL follows more closely the AAF field model, by having team designs in the endzones and at midfield.

According to the ticket website we can expect something closer to this, reminded me of the 2001 XFL anyway, much better than plain green endzones

I think that's a placeholder just for tickets. I remember XFL 2023 tickets had the same thing, but as you saw, the fields were different. I'm guessing the UFL logo at midfield and the team's name in the endzone.

Happy UFL Kickoff Day!

Austin Snelick wrote:Happy UFL Kickoff Day!

Yes sir. Giddy Up

I love this team. Giddy Up. 1-0. And the USFL is 2-0 against the XFL

The Houston Roughnecks endzones are perfection!

Rafael Menoncin wrote:The Houston Roughnecks endzones are perfection!

They forgot about the rice logo at midfield.

The Birmingham vs DC game was so awesome. I had an awesome time in the rain watching my favorite USFL team vs My favorite XFL team. Im happy the Stallions won and stand along in the USFL conference. 4-0.