At least one alternate football league has played a spring schedule in each of the past eight years. All of them -- whether it was the AAF, XFL, USFL or now the UFL -- shared a common goal of juicing up scoring to draw more fans. And all of them have experienced a similar outcome, especially early in their relatively short 10-game seasons.
"From a football side of things, it's always tough," said AJ McCarron, who played two seasons of spring football as a quarterback and is now coach of the UFL's Birmingham Stallions.
The UFL's opening weekend illustrated McCarron's view. Although the Dallas Renegades put up 36 points behind a 376-yard passing performance from quarterback Austin Reed, the league's other seven teams averaged 15.7 points. For all eight games, the combined average points for both teams was 36 -- a far cry from new investor Mike Repole's goal of "34-31" games.
No one should render judgment after one week, but the urgency for immediate success is always acute in spring leagues as they try to grab and hold the attention of curious fans.
"Really, throughout the history of the leagues it has always started slow," said D.C. Defenders coach Shannon Harris, who is in his fourth season of spring football. "Training camp is short. We had some joint practices and stuff like that, but it takes time to develop continuity within the team itself."
Harris is correct. Combining the first two weeks of the 2025 season with Week 1 of 2026, UFL games averaged 34.1 total points. The under has hit on 10 of the 12 games over that period on an average of 39.5 per game, according to ESPN Research.
In his preferred world, Repole said UFL games would consistently hit the over on 58.5. That number might seem more fantasy than reality, but it demonstrates the degree to which Repole believes the games must pop in order to expand the fan base. So after investing in the league last summer, and assuming day-to-day control over its football and business operations over the ensuing months, Repole has repeated and then supercharged a consistent spring football mantra.
"I want big plays," he said. "I want energy. I want explosiveness. I want high-quality football. I want fun and entertainment."
Repole pushed through a series of new rules designed to support that goal, including a prohibition on punting when the offense is inside the 50-yard line. The UFL also awards four points for a field goal of 60 or more yards, has returned to allowing legal receptions when a player has only one foot inbounds and has shortened the distance for 2-point and 3-point conversion attempts after touchdowns. In addition, the UFL allows offensive linemen to block downfield up to 3 yards past the line of scrimmage on passes, rather than the 1-yard rule that exists in the NFL, a significant difference to help generate more yardage on high-percentage passes such as screens.
Although there were 10 punts in DC's game at the St. Louis Battlehawks, the UFL's other three Week 1 games included a total of eight punts. But nine possessions over the four games ended on failed fourth-down attempts, and nine others resulted in turnovers. Coaches chose 1-point conversions on 10 of the 15 touchdowns scored, and none tried a 3-point conversion. There was one 4-point field goal attempt, and it was converted from 60 yards by D.C.'s Matt McCrane.
"Offense is built off of camaraderie and knowing each other and being with each other a long time," McCarron said. "We all want to go out and put up 70 points. Based off the rules, you could see more scoring that way. Or you could not."
It's reasonable, however, to expect offensive production to rise over the course of the season. In 2025, total points per game rose to 42.1 in Weeks 3-7 and then 50.4 points from Week 8 through the end of the postseason. The over hit on 24 of the 35 games after Week 2.
The over-under for all four games in Week 2 are between 40.5 and 44.5 points. And if the unders keep hitting? The UFL is nimble enough to change rules during the season if desired. Repole has made clear that he's watching. Closely.
Appearing in the ESPN broadcast booth during last Sunday's game between the Columbus Aviators and Orlando Storm, Repole gave a short review of the opening weekend and concluded: "I need some touchdowns."