When Mike Rapole was announced as the newest owner of the UFL, it was quite clear that the existing UFL management and ownership groups were investing in the future of the league. A lot of uncertainty surrounded the league amidst declining attendance numbers and several rollercoaster viewership numbers for the 2025 season.
The first order of business that Mike brought the table was transparency. One of the biggest complaints about the league since it’s merger in 2023. Rapole immediately brought the fans’ biggest gripes into the national spotlight with comments about attendance and being honest that several teams could be in trouble. He promised a renewed energy to the current fanbase, while admitting that several difficult decisions were going to be made along the way.
Particularly, certain fanbases were going to have to have to come to terms that their favorite team may not return for 2026. Yesterday, October 7th, in Orlando, Florida, the new UFL ownership group under the guidance of Mike Rapole made those promises a reality. Now, that 24 hours has passed to full digest what was revealed yesterday, we’re going to break down The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from that announcement.
Table of Contents
The Good
The Announcement
While the announcement itself doesn’t seem to be anything more than the standard run-of-the-mill type of league announcement, it spoke more volumes than people have become accustomed to with the UFL. The crisp, professional announcement came at a time when the league appeared to be struggling on a leadership front to fans.
The UFL has become notorious in recent years with too many oft-delayed announcements or decisions, that it was nice to see the league on the same page and revealing the new locations, team names and logos for the upcoming season. An announcement like this in year’s past would have come closer to the new year, leaving fans frustrated with the lack of involvement in the communities and social media engagements.
The branding for teams in the past has suffered due to the lack of organization throughout the league. Mike Rapole’s era as the face of the UFL is already off to a strong start with an organized announcement and speedy timing.
Color Schemes
One the biggest factors when deciding choices for new sports teams is a strong color scheme. It’s one of the most crucial and important decisions anybody can make when it comes to the branding of the team. The USFL, prior to the merger, really struggled with a diverse and strong color pallet, that left 6 of the 8 teams rocking some type of shade of red.
While there’s nothing wrong with the color red, having two-thirds of your league rocking it properly wasn’t the strongest idea. The XFL’s color pallet was much stronger which resulted in stronger branding in certain markets, primarily the Houston-area(we’ll touch base on this later), where the Roughnecks were more unique and creative in their color scheme than the USFL’s Gamblers. The three new teams all have really strong color schemes and fan should be excited for the upcoming uniform reveal in those areas.
Venue Changes
One of the biggest challenges the UFL faced this off-season was how they were going to find venues for the league. Between the failed USFL experiment and the brashness of the XFL, it was evident that going bigger wasn’t better for the league.
When the merger happened, a lot of the old venues, stadiums built for American outdoor football, were being used to execute games. While, on paper, that’s the goal of every football league, the results turned out to be a little too ambitious for the startup league. Stadiums weren’t being filled to capacity, leading to some dreadfully awful and depressing shots of empty seats and sections of the stadium.
The first thing Mike Rapole mentioned in his initial ownership announcement was that venues were going to need to change. The bigger stadiums were too much money, and the league was bleeding finances and not getting a return on their investment. Well, in 2026, the larger stadiums have been shelved, and the league was able to strike deals with smaller, more manageable stadiums that all have soccer teams.
Similar to the DC Defenders, who share Audi Stadium with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit and the USL Super League’s DC Power FC, every team, with the exception of the amazing St. Louis Dome and the Birmingham Stallions(who’s fans better turn out this year), are going to being moving venues. Logistically, this should help alleviate some of the expenses surrounding the venues.
Venue Details
The Columbus Aviators will play at Crew Stadium, former home of the Columbus Crew an MLS team. It’s maximum capacity is listed at 25,000-30,000 for concert arrangements. Located just outside of central Columbus, this is a logical choice of venue for the UFL. it’s a large enough that it portrays a professional image, but it’s small enough that even if you don’t sell out the stadium your crowds won’t look nearly as sparse as they have in Michigan when you’re trying to fill a 70,000 seated arena.
The Louisville Kings will play at Lynn Family Stadium. This is the home of Louisville City FC in the USLC, and Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL. Another soccer stadium, Lynn Family Stadium presents the smallest capacity stadium the UFL, XFL or USFL has played in since Cashman Stadium in 2023. The beauty of this stadium is it wasn’t opened until 2020, so it is fairly new and in decent shape. So far it has not played house to football, and scheduling may be challenging with two separate soccer teams sharing the stadium, however one would have to imagine in relation to other stadiums this venue has to be on the cheaper side for the league.
While the Orlando Storm are technically returning to a market the XFL called home in 2023, this is a new team, different roster and staff, and a different home stadium. This is not the 44,000 seat Spectrum Stadium of the Orlando Apollos in 2019, or 60,000 seat Camping World Stadium…Instead the Storm will play in Inter & Co Stadium which seats 25,000 fans, and will be shared with; you guessed it soccer teams. Owned and operated by the Orlando City SC of the MLS, they also host the Orlando Pride of the NWLS. It is important to know that this stadium has posted NCAA bowl games in the past so it will not be the first time football is played here.
The return of the Dallas Renegades will also see them move to a soccer stadium in 2026. Toyota Stadium the home of FC Dallas, an MLS team, seats 22,500 fans. The stadium plays host to many teams, and attractions including the National Soccer Hall of Fame. It has hosted many football games including games for the Frisco independent school district, the Frisco bowl, it also used to post the NCAA Division 1 Championship Game. It is owned by the city, and slated for a $182 million redevelopment in 2028.
Finally the Houston Gamblers will move venues again, which has been a very common occurrence so far for the Houston franchises in either the XFL or the USFL. However this time the move seems very logical. Moving to Shell Energy Stadium, they will again be relocating to a soccer stadium. Home to the Houston Dynamo FC of the MLS and Houston Dash of the NWSL. Seating just over 20,000 fans, and playing host to the Texas Southern Tigers football team, this venue appears perfect.
The only outliers to this model at this point are the St. Louis Battlehawks, and the Birmingham Stallions. The Stallions have never consistently in four seasons drawn over 17,000 fans. They have had high outputs at times, but typically these corresponded with special events from the league. Throughout their time at Protective Stadium the Stallions have rarely topped 50% capacity. While the decision had been made to return to Birmingham in 2026, I am surprised this came with a return to Protective Stadium.
The Battlehawks routinely garner well over 20,000 fans per game having touched 30,000 fans at times. At that rate their venue is only half full, however messing with a working formula in St. Louis seems like tempting fate a bit too much in 2026. Unless the league is being charged an exorbitant amount to rent “The Battledome” it would be near impossible to move away from this venue.
New Playoff Format
One of the most frustrating things in the two years of the UFL’s existence has been the playoff format. The USFL v. XFL conferences yielding some exciting scheduling matchups but presented a much larger problem when it came to the playoff format. The old format of the top two teams making the playoffs left fans wondering why a team was left out when one conference was much stronger than the other. For 2026, the UFL has abolished the conference and changed the playoff format to the top 4 teams making the playoffs. Honestly, a much nicer and cleaner format when you take into account it’s only an 8-team league.
The Questionable
XFL and USFL Conferences Axed, UFL to Operate Without Conferences
The falls under the questionable category, despite the praise for the playoff format, because it eliminates the fandom of both leagues. While it was going to be hard to continue pushing forward with the idea of these two conferences existing with three brand-new teams(so far, by all accounts, this is what it sounds like these teams are), it does eliminate those bragging rights amongst fans of each spring league prior to the UFL merger.
The old Stallions’ fans can’t brag about the dominance of their team against XFL original teams anymore, and the defending UFL Champs, the DC Defenders, can’t have their fans talk about how the USFL conference is much weaker in comparison to the XFL conference. So, they gain points for the playoff format, but lack of conferences eliminates potentially natural-born rivalries.
New UFL Logo
This change feels unnecessary to the overall branding of the league. While the old UFL logo was a bit more modern in comparison to other American football logos, the new logo misses the mark. The league corrected something that didn’t necessarily need to be corrected, and by doing so, it feels like they moved the logo backwards into a more nostalgic era than a progressive era. While there’s nothing really wrong with the logo at first glance, it does give off a vibe of being outdated. And it’s brand new! Not to mention, the logo makes me think of the old AFL logo, and anybody who knows anything about the AFL knows how that turned out for that league.
The Dallas Renegades
When Vince McMahon brought the XFL for the 2020 season, one of the teams was the Dallas Renegades. Unfortunately, COVID not only destroyed the 2020 season, but ultimately ended the XFL 2020 league, as well. When Dany Garcia, Red Bird Capital and Dwayne Johnson bought the league, they brought the Renegades, but under the Arlington banner, instead of Dallas.
It was a small but distinct change the team considering the roots the XFL was laying in Arlington. So, despite the change to Arlington, it made sense when you think about where the UFL headquarters is located. So, fast forward to 2025 for the 2026 season, it’s really head-scratching why you change the team back to the Dallas Renegades. While not an end-of-the-world type change, it’s just more an annoyance for their fans and fanbase in that area.
The Ugly
Houston Rebranded(Again), UFL Goes Back to the Gamblers Name
Yes, you read that right, the Houston Roughnecks will no longer be a team moving forward. The Houston franchise has been, once again, rebranded to the Houston Gamblers. Why? Well, we have no idea, to be honest. First, this is another nostalgic move, almost smells of desperation considering the lack of attendance in Houston the last two years. But the Roughnecks were more popular in the area than the Gamblers were.
The old USFL days are dead, and this makes the UFL appear to be taking a Hail Mary approach at grabbing the Houston attention to the team. Judging from the social media interactions surrounding this franchise, it’s evident the UFL didn’t poll or talk to many fans in the Houston area.
Also, the name Roughnecks has more direct ties to the city of Houston than the Gamblers, especially when you take into account that gambling in Texas isn’t fully legal. This is downright a terrible decision by the league and this desperate attempt to draw attention to the team is going to fail. A miscalculation and misstep in the Mike Rapole-era of the UFL.
One of the Three New Team Names
So far, I’ve purposefully ignored mentioning the new team names because I knew one of them would appear down here in The Ugly section. While the UFL already has some questionable team names that came with the XFL or USFL, getting a chance at creating three new teams, a name and brand mean everything.
The first team announced was the Columbus Aviators(The Good). I’m perfectly fine with this name because the Aviators pay homage The Spring League, where the USFL was born in 2022. The second team that was announced was the Louisville Kings(The Questionable). While, admittedly, the Royals is a much better team name than the Kings, the name isn’t special, it becomes the first time a team has been named the Kings in professional American outdoor football.
The last team announced was the Orlando Storm(The Ugly). Yikes. This has to be one of the biggest fails of this announcement, especially when look at the color scheme and logo, as both of those are fairly strong. The name Storm is easily one of the most overused names in all of professional football and the UFL failed Orlando here.
Michigan Panthers/San Antonio Brahmas
One of the ugliest things about these recent changes is that the Panthers and Brahmas are being removed to make room for the new teams. While, it’s understandable that the league faced challenges in finding venues for both teams, it feels like a major injustice for both franchises, and the cities of San Antonio and Detroit.
The Panthers were easily the most improved in terms of attendance and they were one of the better teams in the league. The attendance numbers would have only improved as they moved forward and there was a lot of buzz surrounding this team for 2026. Hopefully, despite this move for next year, they’re able to return in the near future. The city of San Antonio deserves a football team. While the attendance for the Brahmas wasn’t eye-popping, it also wasn’t terrible.
They weren’t at the bottom of the league and if the league had invested just a little more time in the community it would have benefitted them in the long term. Similarly to the Panthers, there’s hope amongst Brahmas fans and those in San Antonio that the Brahmas are able to return in the future.
Overall, the league appears to be heading in a positive direction. While there’s definitely going to be missteps along the way, the Mike Rapole-era is off to a stronger start by making smart, and calculated decisions that impact how the game is viewed. Hopefully, the major changes at the top bring more financial success and stability to the league.
But at the end of the discussion, the biggest step that the UFL has to start doing is getting more active in their markets and communities. Because without that engagement, the fans will never show up, no matter how many positive changes you make on paper. Community engagement needs to be executed on a stronger foundation.
~Michael Washington
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