We are coming out of week five of the NFL season, yet the United Football League (UFL) is making headlines with major shake-ups to the league. On Oct. 7, the UFL held an announcement that they are adding three new markets, with them being the Columbus Aviators, Orlando Storm, and Louisville Kings. These are most likely the first of many new announcements from the new UFL owner, Mike Repole. However, it was not without loss as they also cut three teams to make room for the newbies.
The Lost Teams
Just four days earlier, the UFL announced the markets that it would no longer be supporting. The league stated that the reason for these markets dissolving was either stadium lease disputes or the markets being too saturated where it was unviable to keep the team. The teams that were unfortunate enough to get the axe were the San Antonio Brahmas, the Memphis Showboats, and, probably the most shocking of all was the Michigan Panthers. San Antonio and Memphis were disappointing but inevitable. They had seen a consistent decline in their attendance to where it just wasn’t a smart move to keep the teams in those markets. However, the Michigan Panthers were the biggest wild card, considering that they had seen an increase in attendance and even got into playoff contention just the year before. The big factor in their move was the stadium disputes. The Michigan Panthers played at Ford Field, but they faced major scheduling issues that made it challenging for them to play during their regular season, let alone make the postseason again. While it is sad to see them go, there is nothing to say that they couldn’t return in the future if audience demand increases or the stadium issue gets resolved.
The Rebranded
Now some teams got spared from the cut, but they got a new coat of paint in a fresh rebrand. That would be the Houston Gamblers (formerly the Houston Roughnecks), and the Dallas Renegades (Formerly the Arlington Renegades). These changes are pretty small considering it doesn’t change much other than their location or mascot, but it does send some much-needed fresh air into the league.
The Usual Suspects
Now this is only an eight-team league, so that leaves only three teams untouched by these shakeups. Those being the current UFL champions the D.C. Defenders, the historical Birmingham Stallions, and your St. Louis Battlehawks. Now, the D.C. Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks seemed a bit untouchable due to either attendance numbers or the fact that they are the current champions. D.C. did have stadium disputes during last season while playing at Audi Field, but it seems that with their attendance being second to only St. Louis, they are safe from this round of business moves. The Birmingham Stallions were the wildcard in this, purely because not a couple of months earlier, the fan base had to meet a ticket pre-purchase quota for the league to keep the team. Now this very well could have just been a marketing ploy to increase ticket sales numbers before the season, but it was done in poor taste with a message of “your team’s long history in Birmingham hangs in to if you buy enough in the offseason.”
The Fresh Faces
With all the upsets and constants, we should finish this off with the new arrivals to the premium spring league experience. The first one up is the Louisville Kings, where they will be playing at the Lynn Family Stadium, which is the home of the Louisville City FC currently. Second would be the Orlando Storm who is going to be playing at the Inter & Co Stadium which is home to the MLS team Orlando City SC. Last, but certainly not least, is the Columbus Aviators, who are going to be playing at Historic Crew Stadium, which, while vacant for now, is a soccer stadium that once hosted the Columbus Crew MLS team. Some other teams that got updated residencies for their teams are Dallas, who will be playing at Toyota Stadium, and Houston, who is going to be at the Shell Energy Stadium. Now these new markets give life to what has been a rough start-up league and could help grow at a more consistent yet gradual rate.
Now you can see that they are targeting soccer stadiums for their teams and that is to focus on trying to minimize their losses by trying to sell half empty NFL stadiums and to get more fans into the league at a reduced cost. It is one of the biggest “fan first” moves the league has made since being brought back in 2023. The new teams will have their head coaches announced soon as well as their league schedule which will kick off on Friday, March 27, 2026. One last announcement they added was that all eight teams will get updated uniforms going into the new season!
Season tickets and single game tickets are on sale as well as new merchandise to support whichever team you go into the spring season cheering for.
