Record-Breaking First Weekend for UFL: 1.18 Million Viewers and 56% Increase Over XFL and USFL Averages

The UFL debuted on a busy sports weekend, with games televised by Fox and ESPN that attracted solid audiences. According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily, the Saturday games on Fox had audiences of over a million viewers. The opening game between Birmingham and Arlington averaged 1.18 million viewers, while the later game between St. Louis and Michigan had 1.35 million viewers. On Sunday, the ESPN-televised games drew 960,000 viewers for D.C. at San Antonio and 703,000 viewers for Memphis at Houston.

In comparison, the XFL had higher numbers in its opening weekend last year with games exceeding 1.5 million viewers each. However, history has shown that viewership numbers tend to decline as spring football seasons progress. The USFL had lower numbers in its 2023 Week 1, with a high of 974,000 viewers. The key question now is whether the UFL will maintain or increase its viewership numbers in the coming weeks. Karp notes that the high viewership for Week 1 of the UFL represents a 56% increase over the full-season averages of both the XFL and USFL from 2023.