agree and add the importance of the Everpass Media Deal and you have a great relationship going.
EverPass Retains Rights to Streaming NFL Games for Bars, Restaurants.
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This has to be one of your worst takes ever! Maybe you simply had a bad day, for wow did you poop the bed spectacularly with that one!
That’s bullshit false equivalence and hindsighting there, let alone a different sport, as explained quite well above.
And you with all your experience should well know better! SHAME ON YOU!
Maybe stop hanging out with some of those fanboys of spring league football who profess its inherent magic, even when something is clearly not working out or well before some new gimmick even plays out!?
“HEY! YOU KNOW WHAT?! WE SHOULD DO X TOO! IT’LL WORK! 32 TEAMS COMING RIGHT UP! SPRING FOOTBALL! IT’S MAGIC!” 
Comments like this one now would indicate that those spring football fanboys might be rubbing off on you, so enough of that horse pucky too ya carny scoundrel!
Alright, carry on again when you are back to your usual self!
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i’m ok with them using spring football to experiment with rules 
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Me too, but some experiments will fail and fail badly too, of course.
Along the lines as explained in excellent fashion again by Joey above, I would hope that the league simply ditches really quickly anything that becomes far too much of a gimmick in actual play.
As a case in point, the XFL 1.0 as we remember started with “the scramble” for the right to choose the ball, to kick, or to defer instead of the coin toss. The result was the first-ever injury in a spring football league on the very first play in the opening game.
Then I do believe for only two or three weeks after the season started, the XFL 1.0 had unlimited bumping by the defense on any offensive player downfield because they thought that the NFL rules were wimpy in that regard, and so the rules were just like the NCAA and high school football, and well, that rule made for seriously shitty overall offensive play such that Vince McMahon had that rule scrapped and went to NFL rules with bumping allowed only in the 5-yard zone.
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Repole did mention they are open to modifying rules in season if needed. I’m not a big fan of changing rules midstream but spring football provides the flexibility for being a rules testing ground.
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Ay for sure, and it looks like you are feeling better today too, so also “welcome back,” good stuff! 
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I’ve been away from the forums a lot lately. This happens every offseason for me but I’m starting to get the football itch again.
I’ve tried to keep up with the rule changes and rosters over the last month or so. Here’s what I’ve got to say;
Regarding Rule Changes
4 Point FG - I don’t absolutely hate this. I like seeing long kicks and this will make them happen more often (I hope). It’s very gimmicky though. Are we playing football or an arcade game?
Kicked PAT - I like it. I’ve always wanted them to bring back a kicked PAT. I think it’s incredibly important for evaluation. You get a lot more reps from kickers and can see how they do on shorter attempts. We’ll be going from kickers getting an average of 18 kicks to an average of 40+ kicks a season. Snappers/Holders/Protection/Blockers are all getting those reps too.
New Kickoff Rules - Don’t move the needle for me. They’re moving the big group of coverage/return guys 5 yards closer to the kicker. This might give returners more room to work angles and give us + 5-10 yards more per return. Makes it a shorter field for the offense too. I like moving the bad touchback out to the 40 instead of the 35 yard line. It will probably make it so more than 97% of kickoffs are returned, which is what I want to see.
No punting inside 50 and No coffin corner punts - Literally the worst rules in the league. A slap in the face to every punter. Removes directional talent from the league in favour of just long bombs. Lots of guys can hit 55+ yard punts but not as many can control it near inside the 10. Why even have punting at all? Cannot stress enough how much I hate this.
Power Rankings
Pre 2026 UFL Kicker Power Rankings
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Jonathan Garibay (BHAM)
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John Hoyland (HOU)
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Tanner Brown (LOU)
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Matt McCrane (DC)
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Michael Lantz (ORL)
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Tucker McCann (STL)
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Colton Theaker (ARL)
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Ryan Coe (CLB)
Pre 2026 UFL Punter Power Rankings
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Colby Wadman (BHAM)
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Jack Browning (ORL)
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Mac Brown (LOU)
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Jake Camarda (CBUS)
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Mike Rivers (HOU)
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Ryan Sanborn (STL)
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Brandan Hall (DAL)
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Paxton Brooks (DC)
Pre 2026 UFL Long Snapper Power Rankings
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Alex Matheson (ORL)
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Jordan Silver (LOU)
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Ryan Langan (BHAM)
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Payton Bunch (CBUS)
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Marco Ortiz (HOU)
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Antonio Ortiz (DAL)
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Matthew Hembrough (STL)
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Trae Barry (DC)
Misc.
Kicker Leg Strength
BHAM - Jonathan Garibay - Can hit from 62 (Did it in college but I think he is wildly inaccurate past 50)
CBUS - Ryan Coe - Unable to hit from 55 (Barely made a 54-yarder in college as career-long)
DAL - Colton Theaker - Can hit from 60+ (I have tracked 6 workouts from Theaker and while he is 5/5 on 60+ yard field goals, he is 7/18 on all field goals over 50 yards)
DC - Matt McCrane - Can hit from 60+
HOU - John Hoyland - Can hit from 60+ (Maybe the biggest leg in the league)
LOU - Tanner Brown - Can hit from 58+ (Seen him hit 58 yarders in showcases but not a 60 yarder yet. He might have it if wind direction is good)
ORL - Michael Lantz - Can hit from 55+ (Unproven further than that and unable to find showcase footage)
STL - Tucker McCann - Can hit fro 60+ (I have 3 showcases tracked for Tucker and he has made a 60 yarder in one of them. He is 7/9 on Field Goals over 50 yards)
Brief Long Snapper Analysis
- Matheson played at an elite level last year. 92% of his snaps were strikes.
- I’ve watched 66 snaps from Jordan Silver and not a single one was off target (25 was the highest number of snaps seen over the entire 2025 UFL Season)
- Ryan Langan is an elite snapper but coming back from a season ending injury
- Payton Bunch performed extremely well at the UFL Specialist Showcase and had some film from the Coach Zauner Invite Only showcase last month. Extremely accurate field goal snaps and is able to control laces at an above average level. Punt snaps tend to be a touch high but nothing horrific.
- Ortiz brothers are both good at field goal snaps and coverage but punt snaps are rough
- Hembrough has been offline since 2024. Can find a single workout since then. The one I did see was good but its been 2 years. Hembrough is my dark horse for an elite year but we’ll have to wait and see.
- I’m surprised Barry got brought back. McCrane/Brooks must be fighting for him to stick around but he will cost the Defenders at least 1 game.
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i hate punting so to me less is better. the 4 pt fg is gimmicky but so is the ufl itself. lol
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some of these numbers seem optimistic lol
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I like most of the rules but wish they would bring back coffin corner punting. Its such an invaluable skill to have as a punter.
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Extremely optimistic. I responded almost immediately to this article that those estimates are quite misleading. There are typically 3 maps available; single game, season ticket, and group sales. I would take all the “sold” estimates and drop them by 30-50%. At this level of sport, at least 50% of tickets are sold in the 7-10 days prior to kickoff. I do expect pretty strong opening day crowds across the leagie but likely a pipe dream to witness a 15k average this season.
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We’ll see for the first Friday night game on Fox be hyped up like last year, with maybe another damn corporate halftime speech though this one by Repole, and then by Week 3 in mid-April when there is so much else to do in most places in the US, we’ll really see what the crowd at a Friday night game looks like.
If it looks anything like those bojacks in Birmingham behind the endzone last season, well it would be trashy as the league goes!
All the same, no matter how shitty if the case, I see this league going for at least another season even if attendance is disappointing, given the upfront investment anew to have 5 teams in new venues, 4 in new markets, and key sponsors on board for essentially a stealth reboot to be the UFL 5.0.
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i’m having football withdrawals and it’s painful. yesterday i went down a rabbit hole and watched over an hour’s worth of arena football highlights.
i’m even looking forward to spring football now even though my rational mind knows very well that witnessing the shenanigans of the first few games might have the clockwork orange effect and make me hate football.
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I think we get to at least 2028 and likely 2030 under Repole ownership. Seeing legit expansion in 2028 and teams playing full-time in home markets might be what finally gets the UFL over the hump. If one or both events fail to move the needle then its probably time to call it a day on the spring football experiment.
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Superb Owl emerged last night and stopped by on my way home from work, just as I got out of the car, to ask me what’s going on.
Barely understanding him between hoots, he did not like some of my intelligence as shared and was also quite puzzled about this stealth reboot.
He also asked me about @Laxtreme56 , and not wanting to go into details yet, well I told him he’s around and on top of things. He then told me to keep an eye on him. 
Anyway, now we have Superb Owl back again, and so on we have to go with Tuesday nights at The Shady Nest and with the Night Train again.
For those unaware, he looks like this owl, and he is rumoured heavily to be Dan Dreiberg but that allegation is hotly disputed by Superb Owl, and of course he has a football belt and not a basketball one.
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uh oh, looks like Superb Owl is still drunk from the Super Bowl party.
well here comes The Rouge to straighten out the old bird and get him ready for CFL, nevermind the spring football thing!
also, no idea why those goalposts are in the wrong place, but they better get those new rules figured out in time for next season!
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haha UFL - no Mauldin for you!
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Translation after a few days in camp for a pro football veteran?:
“This some bullshit.”?
Who can blame him? Once an athlete has has played at the highest level in the NFL and then in the CFL, even with still plenty of game in him at age 33, the grind of a season and training is still there, plus at age 33 a player definitely doesn’t heal after heavy training or games as fast as in his 20s, plus an athlete in Club 30 lives and deals with more pain all season even when not injured.
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I have only taken one ride on the night train - and it was not pretty - not at all.
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I’m totally with you on that timeline. If the UFL makes it to 2028 or even 2030, that’s already longer runway than most spring leagues ever got. And I think the Repole piece matters way way more than people realize. That dude didn’t jump in blind — he got to see the actual books, the ratings breakdowns, the real numbers, the ad inventory spreadsheets, the Fox/ESPN data. Guys like Repole don’t write checks based on word of mouth and happy vibes. He’s a brand builder first and foremost. Look at what he did with NOBULL and the whole merger with Tom Brady’s training ecosystem — that combined brand valuation is pushing into the billion-dollar territory now. From where I sit in the cheap seats that’s the type of operator who rolls up on underpriced media properties and asks, “Can I package this better?”
The other thing that really jumped out to me is the sponsor layer the league has now. When you start seeing companies like Adidas come in as league partners, that’s at least a signal that someone in the marketing departments crunched the numbers and didn’t see a total dumpster fire. The big kid apparel brands don’t usually attach themselves to something they think disappears next year. That doesn’t guarantee success for the UFL, but it suggests the league has enough stability and exposure to justify the spend.
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