Shirley you mean you are a fan of the UAB Blazers!
The Dragons logo has a fin which makes it totally different. 
(Not really, it’s a clear rip-off.)
What network is showing the games? Are their highlights even being shown?
We watched part of the inaugural game with the home-town team playing, and the stands were maybe 50%+ filled so it seemed like a lot of energy, and the game went to overtime which added a little more to it. We saw the start of the 2nd game (I don’t recall who was playing, but it did not involve Birmingham), and the place was deserted. Not a great look for a “professional” league. There were less people there than a high-school game. And the use of the NFL music made the whole thing seem pathetic. While the use of drones for shots that would otherwise be impossible made it look a lot like a video game, and was interesting, the filtering-in of on-field chatter among coaches and (it seemed) officials, was confusing and irritating. The whole thing is cultivated centrally from the hiring of the coaches to the team names and mascots to the drafting of the players and distributing them to the teams fairly - but that is probably what it takes to get a league like this off the ground.
We looked up the pay for the players and if they are on the active roster for a game, they are paid $4,500/game, much less if they are not on the active roster for the game. There are bonuses for players on the active roster for winning the championship game (if you are not on the active roster, no bonus for you even if your team wins). So, on average, players are making around $50K for their work on the 10-week season, plus the pre-season training camp, which was about 3-4 weeks. I am not sure what the players were doing before joining the league, but given the commitment, they would have to leave whatever job they had to participate. We wondered what a lot of them were doing prior to this, maybe high-school coaches or gym teachers? Any former football player who would be in a career at this point would likely not give-up their full-time job for this, we were speculating, so perhaps most of these players just had nothing better to do. The likelihood of any of them getting looks from the NFL is probably vanishingly small.
It was shared between Fox Sports and NBC.
That’s likely so, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the players are still in the “trying to keep the dream alive” stage, and hoping for the chance to make some big plays, get on some film, and maybe get another shot at an NFL tryout.
Are they being realistic? In most cases, probably not. But, the league has always had the stories of the overlooked guy, like Kurt Warner, who scuffles around in semi-pro or arena leagues, until he gets another look from another NFL team.
This will likely go the way of previous spring football leagues. Americans love football. The NFL. The NCAA. Even the Friday Night Lights. But other attempts fell flat. And while the idea of athletic women in lingerie may have had some appeal, in practice they managed to make even that (dated idea) clunky and unappealing.
I just turned on the opening of the Panthers/Generals game. It’s a gorgeous evening in Birmingham (81 degrees, low humidity, clear skies), but I’d be stunned if there are more than 250 people in the stands.
Late arriving crowd; it’s probably more like 750 or so now, near the end of the first half. 
Though, like 90+% of the spectators are on one side of the stands (the same side as the cameras and press box).
I looked up a couple of quarterbacks, just to see what their background was.
Luis Perez (New Jersey) - NCAA Division II player of the year. Practice squads for the Rams, Eagles, and Lions in the NFL; Birmingham in the AAF; Los Angeles and New York in the XFL
Paxton Lynch (Michigan) - Starting QB for all three seasons at Memphis. First round draft pick for Denver, played in four games his rookie year, injured and saw limited action his second year, cut by the Broncos in pre-season his third year, missed a year as a free agent, then signed but cut by Seattle, signed by Pittsburgh for the practice squad, activated then cut the next pre-season; signed but never activated by Saskatchewan in the CFL.
Alex McGough (Birmingham) - known for both passing and running, led Florida International to its first bowl appearance in six years; 7th round draft pick by Seattle placed on the practice squad, signed but waived by Jacksonville, active roster for Houston for six weeks, signed again by Seattle but waived before the season started.
I could do more, but I suspect the pattern is pretty much the same for all 360 players.
During the pre-game coverage tonight, they were talking a bit about Panthers coach Jeff Fisher (who, of course, had a long career as an NFL coach). Fisher specifically said that one of his big goals is to get his players another shot at the NFL.
When the Seahawks drafted him I knew he was going nowhere.
He’s a QB but he’s literally Mr. Magoo. (Yeah, it’s pronounced the same.)
Okay, so why are all the games being played in a mostly empty stadium in Birmingham, of all places? Are they trying to save money on travel by simply having everyone in one spot?
And why Birmingham? I’m sure it’s a lovely place, but there are nice stadiums all over the country. Austin, for example, has twice the metro population of Birmingham and has (I’m guessing) far greater populations of people who originate from other parts of the country. There are probably more people from, say, Pittsburgh, who live in Austin than Pittsburghers who live in Birmingham. Seems like a more diverse population would be a better deal.
I believe that Birmingham gave the league a good deal on basing the games there. They also have two stadiums which can be used: Protective Stadium (UAB’s new stadium), and Legion Field (UAB’s old stadium).
At this point, I suspect that having a big in-stadium crowd is seen by the league as a “nice-to-have” – it’s the TV eyeballs that they are shooting for.
And, yes, I’m pretty sure that having all of the teams in one spot is a money-saving move. And, as all of the teams are owned by the league, you don’t have eight owners who all want the gate revenue from home games in their cities.
Perfect Strangers.
Don’t be redicu-los.
I caught some of it in the random pizza place we ate lunch in on Sun. I think they’d be better off with no fans in the stands than the random smattering that they did have; it was an embarrassing look. The teams have names of the original USFL teams but won’t be in those cities probably ever this year which isn’t a great way to build a fan base.
If the TV goes away they have nothing, no fans, no income. this seems like a cocktail napkin idea from a drunken night in a bar got greenlighted rather than a well- thought out business plan. I wish them luck but glad I got to see some of that game because I don’t think it’ll be around for long.
Season’s over.
Can’t really say much since I don’t have the patience for live football anymore, and seemingly the only channel that cared at all about the results was FS1 (Colin Cowherd regularly ran clips on his show).
Eh. The players seem to care, what few fans there are seem to enjoy it, it’s honest, it’s hard-fought, there are zero pretensions about competing with or supplanting anything else, and there have no catastrophic injuries, horrible referee screwups, or colossal embarrassments (as far as I can tell). I say it’s earned the right to exist. Maybe it’s going to crumble like all the rest, but I’m not going to celebrate that.
The really interesting question for me is what this means for Dwayne Johnson and the XFL. On the surface it looks like a complete no-win situation for him now. If the USFL tanks, everyone’s going to be convinced an “other football league” is doomed and not give a league that’s already failed twice a chance. If the USFL survives, it’s going to absorb most of the available third- and fourth- tier players, leaving the XFL with dregs of dregs. It’s a nice dream, but I’m thinking DJ should just quietly give it up and give us some more Titan Games.
There has been significant speculation that the real intention Johnson has for the XFL is for it to become a developmental league for the NFL. The NFL hasn’t had one since NFL Europe/Europa folded and wags on sports radio are always saying that the league could potentially benefit from having one again (like the NBA has with the G-League).
Johnson and his business partners have been insisting that this isn’t what they are aiming for, but we’ll see.
The league could certainly benefit from one but the owners don’t want to bankroll one. In that case, I can’t see them caring if whether it’s the USFL or XFL. Or both. Or neither. They’ll let the market decide and won’t really care much as long as their own bottom line is unaffected.
I watched the USFL championship game over the weekend. They played it in Canton, Ohio, at the stadium that’s next door to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (and where the NFL plays the Hall of Fame Game every preseason); they had a pretty good crowd in attendance.
It was actually a pretty entertaining game, with momentum going back and forth between Birmingham and Philadelphia. Both teams lost their starting quarterbacks to injuries in the second half, and Birmingham held on to win, getting a pick-six to seal the victory.