The 2026 UFL season is now less than two months away from kicking off! Last season saw attendance fall 7% from 13,505 per game to 12,548 per game. New owner Mike Repole has a clear goal for this season in increased attendance. He has moved teams to where nearly all of them play in smaller soccer fields to help with optics. We have seen an increase in marketing for the league under Repole and it makes us ask what the attendance goals for each team should be for the 2026 UFL season. I will look at the average attendance goals and minimum attendance goals for each team.
Birmingham Stallions – 11,000 Average & 9,000 Minimum
The Stallions may need to improve their attendance more than any other team. According to some reports they were originally scheduled to be relocated to Boise for 2026. Thanks to the #savethestallions movement they were kept in Birmingham. Last season the team saw their attendance fall from 10K to 9K. A large part of this was because of the week 7 game that occurred at 11AM local time on Mother’s Day that had just 4,744 people in attendance. The rest of the season saw the team average around 9,600 people which was around 500 better than the 2024 season average. The combination of an improved schedule and the #savethestallions movement means that attendance should improve. Having every game above 9K would be a first for the team showing improvement. Averaging 11K would show that Birmingham truly cares about the team and that keeping the was the right call.
Columbus Aviators – (12,500 Average & 10,000 Minimum)
Of all the “new” teams Columbus has the toughest hill to climb. The Aviators are the replacement team for the Michigan Panthers. The Panthers were the only team to see their attendance improve from 2024 to 2025. They also broke their attendance record (modern) in four of the five games they hosted. The Aviators need to immediately show that Columbus was a worthy replacement city for Detroit. The one potential drawback is that the team hosts three Friday Night Football (FNF) Games. While these games are great for TV and the fans, they have resulted in lower attendance numbers for the host teams. The bottom line is that 10K is a bare minimum due to what Michigan did last season. If the team were to average 12.5K it would be 1,000 improvement from what Michigan did last season. Hitting that average would show that Columbus was worthy to replace Michigan.
Dallas Renegades – (11,000 & 10,000)
This might be the toughest ask for any team to accomplish this season. The Renegades have moved from Choctaw Stadium in Arlington to Toyota Stadium in Frisco. The current issue with Toyota is that the stadium is under renovations. In an effort to expand seating and make for a better concert venue the stadium started renovations in early 2025 that will last to at least 2028. During this renovation the capacity is just over 11K which makes it the smallest stadium in the league.
While asking for a sellout may be a lot, this would be just a little over 1,000 more than last season in Arlington. The Renegades technically went down in attendance for 2025 but there is an asterisk. The opener for 2024 had a huge 14K number that was never replicated while having two sub 8K games. Last season saw all five games hit over 9K while 2024 only hit that mark twice. Going to an 11K average is not asking for a ton as this in many ways would just show constant improvement for the team.
DC Defenders – (14,000 & 12,500)
DC is a team that feels primed for a great season attendance. The obvious reason is due to the team winning the UFL Championship last season. DC saw their attendance go down by around 1,000 in 2025. Many people believe the team had a very high season ticket number that boosted the announced attendance in 2024 due to the 2025 crowds looking better on TV than the 2024 crowds. This argument helps the idea that 2026 will see an increase in season tickets thanks to how successful the team was. This plus the increase in marketing we’ve seeing should lead to a very solid increase in attendance. Having a 12.5K minimum would beat out two games from last season. DC has a great in-stadium culture that should also help attendance improve. It’s safe to say that most UFL fans believe DC will once again have the second highest attendance number.
Houston Gamblers – (8,000 & 6,500)
The Houston Roughnecks have been rebranded back to the Gamblers. The team was moved from TDECU to the smaller Shell Energy Stadium. This move was praised by fans, but will the team’s attendance improve? The Roughnecks saw the second worst attendance of 2025. Their 5,700 average was 1,300 less than what they had in 2024. This also included two games with just 4,000 people in attendance. Thanks to the rebrand, change to a former coach instead of CJ, and the extra marketing, I think the team will see improvement with attendance. The 6,500 minimum would be better than the mid-point the past two seasons showing massive growth itself. The 8K mark is doable considering the new stadium and renewed hope that the team will succeed on the field. We also saw in with the 2023 XFL version of the Houston Roughnecks average 12K in attendance showing that 8K is possible.
Louisville Kings – (9,000 & 7,000)
The Louisville Kings have the easiest job at improving attendance in the league. This is where the Memphis Showboats moved and rebranded to. The Showboats averaged just 3,992 people per game last season. That included the worst attended game in UFL history in week 9 where they had just 2,044 people in attendance. The team also failed to surpass 5K even once last year. Technically speaking, the Kings just averaging 5K per game would be a success when compared to Memphis, but I do not think any of us would be happy if 5K was the average.
Louisville’s fan rally was a massive success showing how the market wants spring football. The issue that can hamper them this year is their schedule. The Kings have two FNF games and one Thursday night game. The Thursday game will be interesting as it is happening the weekend of the Kentucky Derby. There’s a chance that the Thursday night game goes well, but it could also be the worst game of the season. Another factor is that Lynn Family Stadium only has 12K seating capacity and 3K that is standing room only. This makes me believe that they will have a great week one turnout despite it being an FNF game since it is the season opener, but the attendance will fall after. This all leads to me believing that they will finish seventh in attendance. Getting 9K would still be a massive improvement from the 4K that Memphis had.
Orlando Storm – (10,000 & 8,000)
This is the first time Orlando has had a spring football team since 2023. In the 2023 XFL Orlando had the Guardians that played at Camping World Stadium. The new Orlando Storm will instead be playing at Inter&Co Stadium. This is a huge upgrade due to both the stadium being a smaller one and the fact that it has some shading unlike Camping world. When looking at the history of spring football in Orlando we get two different results. In 2019 the AAF’s Orlando Apollos averaged over 19,000 fans for their three home games at Spectrum Stadium. The Guardians on the other hand averaged just under 9,000 fans per game. The disparity between both could be because of the higher interest in spring football before the pandemic. The goal for this season is to do better than the Guardians.
The biggest help for Orlando is that four of their games are at night. The biggest complaints for the Guardians were how many games they had out in the hot Florida sun and that Camping World had no shading. The UFL has fixed both of those problems with the new stadium and great schedule. Averaging 10K would a little more than half of the Apollos and a thousand more than the Guardians. Having a minimum game of 8,000 would also be great. The 2023 Guardians had three games that failed to reach that mark. If the Storm hit both of those goals it would be viewed as an overwhelming success for the market.
St. Louis Battlehawks – (30,000 & 27,500)
Finally, we have the St. Louis Battlehawks. The Battlehawks have been the gold standard for success in a market over the past three years. With that being said, they have gone from averaging 35K in 2023, to 33K in 2024, and finally to 29K last season. The goal for the team should not be to improve a ton in attendance, but rather to stay around the number they were at. This would show that the interest in the team is still very much alive, as another season falling by a couple thousand would suggest that the hype for the team is slowly dying. Thanks to the overwhelming praise that the Ricky Proehl hire received and the better marketing I do believe the team will rebound to a 30K average. A 27.5K bottom game would outdraw the worst game for them last year where they had a 26.7K game.
Giveaways
There is another reason why I believe every team will see improvement in attendance and that giveaways. The UFL announced theme nights for every game this season. In those announcements they revealed that every game during the regular season will have a giveaway. Based on the Stallions and Aviators posts it is safe to assume that each giveaway will be for the first 5,000 fans in the stadium per game. These giveaways give an extra incentive to go to games and be a season ticket holder. If you spend $100 on a season ticket for a team and show up early to every game you would walk away with one/two free shirts, one/two free hats, a free clear tote, and maybe a free bobblehead. These giveaways should eliminate any game having under 5,000 people in attendance and help boost the overall attendance for every team in the league.
