UFL Attendance In 2026: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

When Mike Repole bought into the United Football League (UFL), the trajectory of the league entirely changed. Repole sold the UFL on a vision, and in return, was granted the ability to restructure the organization from top to bottom.

What we saw: six brand new Head Coaches, alongside three market relocations, and five different venues in total.

Repole’s vision was clear: pack out smaller stadiums. Spring football has plenty of potential, but felt too much like “COVID” football, with empty crowds. During the 2025 season, cities such as Memphis and Houston looked incredibly bare, and even winning teams like DC and Birmingham weren’t filling seats the way one would imagine.

The United Football League moved Michigan and San Antonio – two promising locations – simply due to venue restrictions in those respective markets. Orlando, Louisville, and Columbus offered more reasonable options in that regard.

So, now that the regular season is behind us, how did Mike Repole’s revisions fare? Let’s take a look.

St. Louis Battlehawks: 23,239

The St. Louis Battlehawks, unsurprisingly, led the league in official attendance numbers weekly. This is a fanbase that has been very loyal through the years, even with some dips. The Battlehawks kicked off week one with an excellent number (31,191), fueled by a concert from St. Louis’ very own Nelly.

That said, the remainder of the year left plenty to be desired. In week seven, St. Louis saw a crowd of just 18,563 on Friday night, the lowest reported attendance in team history. Of course, the Battlehawks are usually competing with the St. Louis Cardinals – so that doesn’t help.

However, there is a notable downwards trend in St. Louis – something the UFL will need to address in the offseason. They can’t simply expect St. Louis to show up just because it’s The Lou. More local efforts can re-energize a city that has gone a bit stale for the UFL the last two seasons. Speaking of energy…Mike Repole did try to start some conversations with Energizer Park, host of the St. Louis City soccer team. That is a storyline to keep an eye on, even if nothing comes out of it in 2027.

Louisville Kings: 11,195

The Louisville Kings set the blueprint for exactly what Mike Repole wants to accomplish with the UFL across a plethora of markets in the future. Louisville showed up every single week to watch their Kings – finishing second in overall attendance. It’s an impressive feat, as Lynn Family is the second smallest venue in the league. Not to mention, they dealt with the threat of rain/lightning delays almost every single game.

Even after Louisville got off to an 0-3 start, losing two at home, the fans never went away. They stayed true to the team, which paid off in dividends as the won six of their last seven, punching a ticket to the playoffs. Louisville saw at least 10,000 fans at every home game, with a sellout crowd of 14,034 in week one. Across the board, Louisville delivered as a market, and is the exact type of success the UFL will hope to replicate elsewhere.

Columbus Aviators: 10,361

Columbus, another new market, performed respectfully well in their own regard. Similar to the Kings, Columbus got off to a very slow start, with a 1-4 record halfway through the year. Despite this, the Aviators saw their attendance go up the final couple of weeks at home, closing out with a strong announced number of 10,705.

There is work to be done in the city, but the potential is clearly there. Columbus, and Ohio in general, love their football. With a better product in 2027, the Aviators should be positioned to average at least 12k+ fans per game, which would hit the sweet spot that Repole is aiming for.

Orlando Storm: 9,830

The Orlando Storm find themselves in the middle of the pack. They never had a massive crowd, with their largest showing coming in week one, with 11,127 in the stands for a home opener that featured a halftime performance from DJ Khaled.

Orlando is a unique market. It’s a place where people go to vacation, but establishing a recognizable sports brand in the city isn’t easy. On top of that, Orlando has been burned twice in recent spring football history (Apollos, 2019; Guardians, 2023). Inter & Co. Stadium is a little bigger than the other new venues in Columbus and Louisville, but with the right execution this offseason, can see considerable growth. The product Anthony Becht and the Storm have been putting on the field is excellent. They’re a league-best 8-2.

DC Defenders: 9,000

To be quite honest, it’s disappointing that the defending champions averaged less than 10k per game. Audi Field is, without a question, one of the UFL’s top venues. The atmosphere, the energy, and the experience are top tier.

It makes you wonder why DC can’t get more fans in the stands. The Defenders were fresh off a Championship victory in 2025, and are one of the top teams in the league (albeit a late injury to JT). DC absolutely has to be a primary focus for Repole’s executive group heading towards 2027. There’s no excuse to not be getting crowds of 15,000 and up like we saw in the XFL days.

Hopefully, the United Bowl being hosted in DC at Audi Field can help boost some interest in the team, even if the Defenders don’t make it there this year.

Birmingham Stallions: 8,248

Birmingham…this one is tough. I know the Stallions fans will hate to hear the slander – but Birmingham hardly showed up this year. Their home opener felt like a “Battle of the Bulge” type of effort from Repole. Gucci Mane performed at half-time, and Birmingham was surging with life as over 18,000 were reported in attendance.

The problem? Most of those people were simply there for the concert, or they were casuals who were treated to a shutout from the Orlando Storm. I was there in person for this game – by the mid-third quarter, the stands had cleared out quite a bit. There is no denying that.

Birmingham closed out their regular season with reported attendance of 4,705, 4,824, and 5,253. Some of the lowest numbers the team has seen since their initiation into the USFL back in 2022.

There have been some recent reports and rumbling surrounding Birmingham’s numbers, and how they were presented by the league. To be quite honest, whatever may (or may not) be true regarding Birmingham attendance: it isn’t good no matter how you look at it. This is a city that has seen three Championships, and four playoff appearances.

Dallas Renegades: 6,185*

The Dallas Renegades were in a unique position this season. They moved from Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, to Toyota Stadium in Frisco. It’s a venue that was under construction during the season, limiting the available options for fans.

Dallas saw a crowd of nearly 9,000 people in their home opener, but that quickly dwindled down to just over 5,100 in week three. The Renegades were done no favors due to venue issues. Their first four home games at Toyota Stadium were during the first five weeks of the year. Not to mention, their final “home” outing was in Fort Hood – over three hours away. Throw in a Tuesday night game in the mix, and it’s not surprising that the Renegades’ averages were so low.

Truthfully, the UFL needs to do a better job of marketing this new Renegades branding in the right areas of Dallas. Frisco and Arlington are further apart than one would think – the team should be presenting itself in the Frisco area more frequently, to help make up for the fans who aren’t making the drive anymore from Arlington.

Houston Gamblers: 5,683

I wrote about the Houston Gamblers fan experience at Shell Energy Stadium a few weeks ago. It’s one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, hardly anyone knows about it. This Houston market has been tossed all over the place since the USFL-XFL merger, and it’s never recovered. Losing Wade Phillips, moving to Rice Stadium, and inserting C.J. Johnson into the mix (who went 1-9 in 2024) killed what was previously a promising city.

Attendance in Houston was nearly identical to what it was in 2025. That, obviously, isn’t good. It’s hard to say exactly where the league stands in Houston right now. The venue is perfect, and has potential to be an Audi Field 2.0 for the UFL. The question remains: can they ever get back to the crowds that supported the Roughnecks so passionately? At this point, probably not. It would take a miracle, and a complete marketing overhaul, to restore Houston to greatness. It may end up being too much time, money, and effort for Repole & Co. to keep the Gamblers rolling next year.

Final Thoughts

As the title of this article suggests, there is some good with UFL attendance. Louisville and Columbus delivered, while St. Louis is still carrying the heavy load. Orlando didn’t blow anyone away, but showed promise as well.

DC and Birmingham are two veteran markets that need some serious addressing in the offseason. There are no excuses for those teams to not average 10k+ per game, and the UFL is partially to blame. As for Texas, it’s been disappointing. Dallas and Houston have both fallen far from where they were in the XFL, both in 2020 and 2023.

While some may suggest that the UFL needs to relocate these struggling markets, I digress. The league needs to show the country that they are stable. Moving teams, again, does not portray that picture. Maybe, with a full offseason of resources and attention from a revived UFL under Mike Repole’s reign, some of these glaring issues can be corrected in 2027.

On top of that, Mike Repole also said prior to the season (attached in the clip at the beginning of this article) – his goal was to average around 10k per game this first year. The UFL did exactly that, at around 10,500 per game in 2026. Now, the sights need to be set on bringing those numbers up to 15,000 per game in 2027, a task that should be feasible under the right circumstances.

What are your thoughts on UFL attendance from the 2026 season? Which markets did you attend games in? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!