loading . . . Mike Repole asked for the good, bad and ugly of the UFL so far; here's how fans answered Earlier this week, UFL co-owner Mike Repole went on Twitter/X to ask fans to give him some feedback on the 2026 season so far:
As of Friday morning, there were over 600 replies to this post. On Wednesday, I went through several hundred of those replies to see what fans found good, bad and ugly two weeks in. As expected, there were common threads woven throughout the comments. Here are some of the compliments and concerns that appeared in multiple replies.
The Good
New venues: Fans were largely complimentary of the new franchises and locations. Each home team drew well its first time out; as longtime spring football fans know, the curiosity factor will attract fans at first, but there has to be more to bring them back to the stadium over time.
Patience needed: There was an acknowledgment that these new teams - as well as some of the returning ones - will require patience from ownership in order to cultivate a fanbase. The word "trust" was also frequently used, in that the locals needed to trust that ownership was not going to pull away at the first signs of struggle. Patience is not something previous spring football leagues have shown a lot of, hence the frequent shuffling of cities. Fans are prepared to be patient; is Repole, et al?
Big musical acts for home openers: Whether in attendance live or watching on television, respondents were positive about Repole getting notable musical artists for each team's home opener. It was a unique way to give credibility to the UFL while also getting fans out to the stadiums. I think followers of the league are going to be supportive of any outside-the-box ways to get fans in the building, knowing the importance of butts in the seats to the long-term viability of the individual teams and the league at large.
New rules: More than a few fans nit-picked a couple of the new rules (more on that below), but there were a lot of fans who supported the entirety of the new set of on-field guidelines. Some, like myself, even indicated they were surprised at how they enjoyed some of the changes.
On-field product: One thing the UFL hasn't had to worry all that much about since merging the USFL and XFL is the quality of football. It's not always pristine, especially at the beginning of the season, but the majority of fans in Repole's mentions were approving of the game action. Of all the issues the UFL may have in getting through to the mainstream sports fan, this doesn't seem to be at the top of the list.
The bad/ugly
ESPN presentation of games: Far and away the topic brought up the most as a negative was how ESPN produces their games. Fans are not interested in seeing reporters try to interview coordinators, backup QBs or head coaches during the game. So far, the results haven't been worth it: Those calling plays offer little insight and clearly have contempt for being bothered mid-game. In addition, there were many complaints about how much attention ESPN gives to betting and the odds.
Marketing: A constant refrain from spring football fans has been the perceived lack of marketing both nationwide and locally. This issue was raised time and time again in the replies to Repole's post. Fans want to see the league better engage the public, especially in the markets. There were a number of anecdotes shared by people where, in talking to friends and family, those acquaintances had no idea the UFL had even started its season or, worse, that the city in which they lived had a team.
Lack of selection in UFL online shop: Repole already addressed this one, admitting he dropped the ball on the shop, not realizing the demand fans would have to purchase UFL gear. Fans were particularly upset about the absence of jerseys and New Era caps.
Game access in international markets: Several fans from across the globe chimed in, indicating they'd want to watch the UFL but, in their country, have no way of legally accessing the games. Finding a broadcast partner in some of the large foreign nations will go a long way in getting the UFL to be recognized as a brand worldwide and open up other potential revenue streams for the league.
Fan engagement at stadiums: Those who've attended games, including a lot of folks from St. Louis, iterated how there isn't as much fan interaction at games as there used to be. If Repole wants to focus on attendance, which he clearly does, that also means making the gameday experience worthwhile for fans. This is where the UFL can take its cues from minor league sports, which tend to do a great job in this regard.
Scheduling: There are a couple complaints in this bucket: The first request was no games on Easter. There were others who disagreed and in fact wanted the UFL to make Easter games akin to how the NFL treats Thanksgiving games in terms of tradition and celebration. Repole has noted in interviews that he wants the season to start earlier, and fans posted their agreement with that line of thinking.
New rules: Punting and extra points: The two rules that came up over and over again in the complaint department section of peoples' posts was the no punting once a team crosses the 50, and the extra point kick. Several fans even suggested ways to tweak the punting rule, such as pushing it to the opponents' 45-yard line. As for the extra point kick, it takes away a potential scrimmage play and seems to go against the "more action" edict that many of these rules are based upon.
Inability to access basic league information: I thought I was the only one that would have this complaint, but others did as well: The UFL puts injury reports and depth charts in a media portal, only to be accessed by folks with credentials. Then, they're often not updated in a timely manner. If you want to know your team's transactions, you have to have an X account, because that's the only place they're posted. The UFL pushing out this information to a wider audience would certainly interest those in the gambling community, as well as fantasy football aficionados. It would also encourage more fans to participate. Besides, the NFL releases all of this information to the masses; why are they more transparent than the UFL in these matters?
Coaches with more experience needed: It's not lost on fans that the first-time head coaches - some who are first time coaches, period - are struggling. Fans seemed to understand the desire to hire coaches with local ties but didn't like the fact that it's a disadvantage for these franchises to put these people in prominent positions so early in their coaching careers.
Mad about leaving previous cities: As one would expect, Repole heard from plenty of Michiganders and San Antonians (and yes, one person from Memphis) upset that the UFL abandoned those cities. Similarly, there were also more than a few who did not like the rebranding of the Roughnecks to the Gamblers.
Repole posted a response, thanking those who replied to share their thoughts.
https://x.com/repolestable/status/2041976737320354131 https://uflnewshub.com/ufl/mike-repole-asked-good-bad-ugly-ufl-far-heres-fans-answered?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&utm_campaign=dlvrit
