The United Football League kicked off its season on Friday night, and the game didn’t have a lot to offer, not that there were many fans in the stands to complain.
The St. Louis Battlehawks beat the Houston Roughnecks 31-6 in a game that was never competitive. Battlehawks quarterback Manny Wilkins completed 17 of 22 passes for 189 yards and also ran for 43 yards and two touchdowns. The Roughnecks’ quarterbacks were Anthony Brown and Nolan Henderson, who combined to go a dismal 12-of-29 for 76 yards with two interceptions. The best stat line belonged to Battlehawks running back Jarveon Howard, who had 13 carries for 115 yards.
The biggest question for the UFL is whether it can attract enough fans to survive. The stands in Houston’s TDECU Stadium were mostly empty. We don’t yet know how many viewers were watching the game on Fox, but it’s hard to believe the audience was particularly strong. During football season, the NFL reigns supreme among American sports fans, college football is next, and the other sports are far behind. But in the spring, the UFL hasn’t even come close to the point where significant numbers of fans are going to choose minor league football over March Madness and Major League Baseball’s opening weekend.
It would have made a lot more sense for the UFL to open its season in St. Louis, where the Battlehawks drew more than 40,000 fans to their home opener last year. St. Louis is full of football fans who still aren’t happy that the Rams were taken from them and eager to show that their town can support a pro team. That’s the city where the UFL season opener would have felt like a big-time event. In Houston on Friday night, the UFL looked very much like a minor league.
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