Things continue to go poorly for America’s newest spring football league. The Fox-owned UFL, which broadcasts games across Fox, FS1, ABC, and ESPN, has experienced a rough start from a viewership perspective in its first two weeks, and the Week 3 numbers offered only slight reprieve.
According to David Rumsey of Front Office Sports, UFL viewership is down 33% compared to last year’s inaugural season. Data from pro football writer Mike Mitchell shows that the league averaged 666,000 viewers per telecast for its four games last weekend, marking the highest weekly average this season yet still falling short of last year’s average of 816,000 viewers per game.
#UFL 2025 Season, Week 3 TV Ratings (Average Viewership)
Friday 4/11
Arlington-Birmingham (FOX): 682,000
Saturday 4/12
Houston-Memphis (ESPN): 295,000
Sunday 4/13
Michigan-San Antonio (ABC): 719,000
DC-St.Louis (ABC): 967,000 (1.4 million peak viewership)Numbers courtesy…
— Mike Mitchell (@ByMikeMitchell) April 15, 2025
Sunday featured the league’s most-watched game of the season, with the DC Defenders’ win over the St. Louis Battlehawks averaging 967,000 viewers as part of a doubleheader. This significant figure is notable considering it aired directly against CBS’s final round coverage of the Masters. However, prior to this game, no UFL match had exceeded the 700,000-viewer mark this season. Despite this slight improvement, the league is facing serious challenges, as three of its eight teams have already lost their head coaches. Notably, both Ken Whisenhunt and Wade Phillips left their positions this week, and Reggie Barlow abandoned the Defenders for Tennessee State just days before the season commenced.
Perhaps the most concerning issue is the quality of play. Out of 12 games played this season, only one has seen both teams score over 20 points, while 10 of those games had at least one team scoring 12 or fewer points. The UFL is struggling to produce an appealing style of football. Individual player statistics are equally grim, with five of the eight starting quarterbacks posting completion rates below 55%, and many under 50%. Only one quarterback has managed to throw more than two touchdowns across three games, and the league’s leading rusher is averaging a paltry 63 yards per game. The overall impression is that the competition resembles a game of football among players unlikely to ever land a spot on an NFL roster, which is largely the case for most involved, barring a few exceptions each year.
Ultimately, regardless of how appealing the UFL’s television placements are or the quality of its production, it amounts to merely cosmetic enhancements. If the quality of play does not improve, there is little for audiences to get excited about.
