r/UnitedFootballLeague • u/astroknight1701 • May 04 '25

Discussion Does Birmingham deserve the Stallions?

I’m a Stallions fan. I was a fan of the original Stallions. I listened to the very first Stallions game against the Michigan Panthers on the radio in 1983.

The current version has won three straight championships and very much in contention for a fourth. But the attendance is absolutely putrid.

I’ve heard all the excuses. “It’s hot during the day.” Yeah so how come they don’t show up on Friday night? “People don’t like to go downtown at night.” OK. The lack of marketing complaint is certainly valid but it’s been four years. Pretty much every game has been televised.

Three straight championships, and the stadium looks practically empty. So disappointing. I know the city all too well, and it’s still disappointing.

It’s laughable to think that the New England Patriots once almost moved to Birmingham.

Maybe the Stallions deserve to look for a home that might appreciate them.

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u/Zapfit May 04 '25

The league makes very little off concessions and probably wouldn’t offset the costs of extra staff and security.

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u/EmuLess9144 May 04 '25

Oh well. They need to make the stadium full if they want to save the league. Even if it’s more or less a studio audience

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u/Zapfit May 04 '25

I think it's more important getting network ratings back to ~1 million and cable in the 650-700k range than adding an extra 2-3k fans per game.

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u/Heavy_Advice999 Michigan Panthers May 04 '25

Why not both? If you get more fannies in seats, you'll (probably) get higher ratings.

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u/Zapfit May 04 '25

I'm an advocate for both but MLS averages 24k a game and draws nowhere near 1 million viewers. Even before the Apple TV deal most MLS Cups hovered in the 800k range.

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u/Fancy-Scar-7029 May 05 '25

Even before the Apple TV deal most MLS Cups hovered in the 800k range.

Check your sources that's incorrect. MLS Cups before Apple averaged right around the roughly 2m mark in the 1.5 to 2m range. The last MLS Cup before Apple TV deal averaged 2.2m.

Those MLS Cup numbers likely played a role in Apple offering MLS their Media deal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_on_television

MLS Cup Viewership

2016- 2.0m

2017- 1.1m(Cable that year)

2018- 1.8m

2019- 1.3m (ABC NFL Sunday)

2020- 1.7m

2021- 1.5m

2022- 2.2m