The pattern is alive and well for new spring football leagues. Their debuts are strong as people rush to see what this is all about and then in week 2, ratings drop in a big way. The USFL is not immune.
Week 1 games drew an average audience of more than 1.5 million viewers. In week 2, the USFL saw that number fall by 58% as the four games on the schedule averaged 658,000 viewers. The high point came Saturday afternoon on FOX with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia drawing just over 1 million to the broadcast.
Pat McAfee declared the league “so dead” earlier this week, but also pointed out that there was a lot of competition for the sports audience. The NBA Playoffs ran throughout the weekend, NASCAR was at Talladega, and the PGA played its Zurich Classic. All of those events dwarfed the USFL.
Spring football has a lot of disadvantages. The biggest is, of course, that it is a lower level of pro football with players that are not stars. However, the abundance of competition on television cannot be overlooked when we discuss why none of these leagues have had staying power.
This weekend will be no different. On Friday and Saturday, the USFL will face competition from the NFL, who will hold the final two days of its 2022 Draft over the weekend.
