Yesterday, the United Football League (UFL) made some major news. They’re expanding/relocating to four new markets over the next two seasons. In 2027, the UFL will introduce Rhode Island and Colorado Springs, to replace Birmingham and Houston.
Then, 2028 will bring along two new teams – marking the first true expansion for spring football since it returned in 2022.
On Wednesday, UFL CEO and President Russ Brandon took to media availability to provide more details. The UFL is trending upwards at a fast pace, something Russ and his team are quite proud of. It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point – and will take quite a bit more to keep moving in the right direction.
Expansion, for the UFL, has been in the works for some time. The league technically expanded into three new markets a year ago, entering Columbus, Louisville, and Orlando. Those three cities proved to be strong moves for the UFL.
In his call with media, Russ detailed how their process has changed a bit since UFL Co-Owner Mike Repole joined the fold:
“We did an RFP about 18 months ago, looking at potential expansion down the road. We had incredible return and feedback from markets throughout the country. Mike came on board 16 months ago, and we changed the profile of our venues. Last year, we changed five of our eight venues. Of course, added Louisville, Columbus, and Orlando. The profile of our venues have completely changed. Our focus has been the right market, the right sized venue, and the right partners. That’s where we landed with Colorado Springs, Rhode Island, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake.”
Of course, venues have been the centerpiece for Repole and the UFL’s new vision. When the UFL is getting 10,000 people to venues which seat 45k+, it doesn’t look right on TV. The environment, as well, simply isn’t the same.
The UFL has had dozens of cities reach out, inquiring about bringing a team to their area. For the UFL, they’ve found the perfect balance of market size, venue availability, and strong partnerships in each new city.
“The Venues all fit into our profile. We’re excited for what they are building in Oklahoma City. Excited about the partnerships we now have with all of their ownerships and front offices. A lot of excitement around all four markets. A lot of work and effort by the entire organization went into this. Mike, obviously, leads the way on a daily basis.”
Increasing the UFL to 10 teams in 2028 will be no easy task. It requires two brand new coaching staffs, and two rosters of new players.
It begs the question: how will that impact the product on the field? When the UFL merger happened, the USFL and XFL combined 16 teams down to 8 – which resulted in much better play across the board. For Russ and his football ops team, they remain focused on making sure that the product doesn’t take a dip when adding two new franchises:
“We saw the quality of play improve during the merger. That’s something we look at each and every day. I think the player pool continues to improve across the board. Honestly, when people knew that this was a long-term, viable and sustainable league – it’s improved what we’re attracting. Agents may not have called five years ago, but now, we’re getting calls from reputable people on the daily. Now that the cloud we dealt with the first couple of years, of ‘oh here’s another version of spring football’ – with that cloud behind us, we’re competing for all the top talent that isn’t in the NFL.”
While it remains to be seen as to how the UFL will handle adding two teams in 2028, the good news is that there won’t be major shakeups in 2027 for rosters. Houston and Birmingham will be placed individually into the new markets. On top of that, there will not be a re-draft, similar to the one we saw in 2026.
Instead, a draft will be held – but it’s anticipated that the structure will mimic the “rights drafts” that the UFL held in the past for younger players.
“The one thing I can tell you: this will not be a complete redraft like we did a year ago. We will have more continuity. We will have a draft, but we’re finalizing the final points on that now. Excited to do that. But, we’re trying to keep continuity in the rosters that are here. We will have a pretty robust draft that you’ll be excited about.”
One final piece that was discussed: the start date to the season. Russ Brandon made it clear that weather will not be a factor in regards to moving up the start date. The league will play in their cold climates if it gets to that point.
However, sticking to the current late-March kickoff makes the most sense. They’ve got a system down with their broadcast partners in FOX and ESPN/ABC, and don’t feel the need to shift it quite yet. Plus, their venues are more readily available during the time frame that they’re playing in.
“The weather does not factor for us as to if we’ll move the season start-date at some point. We have a lot of factors that go into the schedule. I always joke with my buddy Mike, that this schedule is harder than the NFL schedule. And, the reason for that, is that we are the second, third, or fourth tenant sometimes in these buildings. Especially in a building that has MLS, NWSL, and everything that we have to work around. Then, you have major network partners with Disney and FOX which are highly programmed as well. There’s a lot of moving parts to that. So we have to author some flexibility with our scheduling. I’m pleased we’re even able to work something out where we could announce the opener for Louisville at the Parade, but then announce the openers for these two markets as well.”
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the UFL. Mike Repole has brought a lot of juice to the table, and the league is positioned to expand for the first time in recent history.
For spring football, the UFL, and its fans – things are heading in the right direction, as they have been for years.
What are your thoughts on these comments from Russ Brandon regarding the UFL and its future? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
