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In its second year of its second iteration, the USFL generated comparable TV ratings to the third-ever first season of the XFL. USFL president of football operations Daryl Johnston is surprised by this development.
“That was one of the more surprising things for me,” Johnston told Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal. “You put our game on television up against our competition, there is no competition. We are far superior in production value, far superior in on-air talent. Recognizable names, recognizable voices. We’re pushing the envelope with all the technology we have.. . . To me, to be on par with our competition from a ratings standpoint in Year Two, I’m still trying to figure out: How did that happen? Because our product, in my opinion, when I watch it, they’re not even close.”
The XFL started right after the Super Bowl. There were limited weeks of overlap between the two leagues.
There’s a real question of football fatigue. For those who don’t have it after the NFL season ends, they might have it after the XFL season ends.
Either way, the USFL season ends on Saturday night, with a championship game between the Pittsburgh Maulers and the Birmingham Stallions. The game will be televised by NBC; it starts at 8:00 p.m. ET.
And then there will be no football until football season returns.