In a September 2025 interview on The Varsity podcast with host John Ourand, UFL co-owner Dany Garcia revealed specific changes the league is implementing for the 2026 season that could shape its future.
Speaking from the IMG Redbird Summit in the Cotswolds UK, Garcia discussed venue adjustments, the return of innovative broadcasting features, renewed marketing efforts, and enhanced fan engagement strategies currently being rolled out.
Right-Sizing Stadium Venues
Garcia acknowledged the UFL is actively correcting one of its biggest operational mistakes – playing in stadiums that are too large for spring football crowds.
“The size of our venues for a number of our properties are just too large. Spring football has a certain size. We’re somewhere from 17,000 to 20,000 fans, 10,000 to 20,000. Right in there is just really a beautiful sweet spot. It’s a mistake, but it was also a matter of this is what was available.”
The league discovered that 20,000 fans in an appropriately-sized venue creates better atmosphere than the same crowd lost in a 60,000-seat NFL stadium. Garcia confirmed the UFL is making venue changes during the 2026 season, focusing on
“getting smarter there, getting in the local community more, making that investment.”
These adjustments mean fans can expect games in more intimate settings that match actual attendance patterns. The new Columbus Ohio team will play in an MLS sized stadium. Michigan Panthers are looking to move from the expensive Ford Field.
For a time, league management was against playing in MLS stadiums. With new co-owner Mike Repole. It looks like that tune has changed.
Broadcasting Innovation Returns
After scaling back distinctive broadcast features during the XFL-USFL merger, Garcia confirmed these viewer-friendly elements are returning to UFL games.
“The level of innovation that we were able to do with the XFL, initially, we had a very deep buy-in with ESPN, the way they were broadcasting the game. There was just so much going on. I know my nephews, who are huge gamers, loved the broadcast because they were like, Oh, my God, this is just like when we play Madden. The game opened up for them. We had to move a little bit away from that after the merger, finding our footing and getting parity between whether it’s Fox broadcast or ABC, ESPN broadcast.”
As someone who has covered spring football for years. I didn’t notice a really huge change between the XFL and UFL as far as the TV product. Broadcasting innovation’s mean very little to fans.
Garcia, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Daryl “Moose” Johnston and UFL President and CEO Russ Brandon often talk to the media about the leagues broadcasting innovation’s. I have said this before and will say it again. Stop talking about it. Only you care because you are involved in the TV business.
No XFL fan from for 2020 ever said, you know I stopped watching the UFL because the broadcast got worse. To much of the leagues energy has been focused on this. They are in a bubble and it matters to only them, not the fans.
Marketing Investment Resumes
Garcia admitted the league made a strategic error reducing marketing efforts during the merger process and is now correcting course.
“As we transitioned into merger, we dropped or put to the side, lightened up some of our branding marketing work. And that was a mistake. And now we’re in this year, in this iteration, bringing that back in an even stronger way.”
The renewed marketing push comes at a critical time as the league works to establish its identity following the XFL-USFL into the United Football League. People are still confused years later. This is why Repole was brought in. Apparently all these TV people don’t know how to market football. They also said they would do a better job marketing in 2024 leading into the 2025 season. We know how that turned out.
Digital Platform Priority
Garcia outlined specific digital platforms the UFL is prioritizing for content distribution and fan engagement during the current season.
“I’m very interested in YouTube. I would just say right there. I’m very, very interested in the intentionality of YouTube because our league has a lot of developmental instructional aspects to it. There’s so much more to mine there with our league. Definitely, TikTok is very important for us having assets there.”
It will be interesting to see how the league leverages YouTube and TikTok any differently than they did in 2025 season. I have always said a show behind the scenes of the league would be a huge hit. Put it on Netflix or free on YouTube.
Direct Athlete-Fan Connections
The UFL is developing new channels for players to interact directly with supporters, moving beyond traditional media-filtered communication.
“Our athletes, one of the things I’m excited for and would like to more of is our athletes literally engaging more with our fans, making sure we have that channel open and there’s back and forth. Our fans are feeling like, because fans feel like this. Fans and NFL know that they put on their stuff and they’re like, We can help you win this game.”
Garcia envisions UFL fans having ownership stake in the league’s success through direct dialogue with players. She wants supporters to feel they can “help you have a successful league” and “help you, athlete, get into another stage or stay here and have success.”
The league needs to focus on being more like college football since players come and go.
Beyond the operational changes, Garcia shared insights into the UFL’s long-term vision and her personal investment philosophy. She emphasized that the UFL represents a “legacy play” rather than a quick flip, with ownership viewing this as a five-year minimum path to profitability.
Garcia revealed her background as a professional bodybuilder who turned pro at 42 shapes her athlete-first approach to league operations. She discussed how the merger brought Fox into the ownership group alongside Disney, creating what she called “institutional execution” with major broadcast partners.
The DC Defenders’ young fanbase and their famous beer snake tradition got specific mention as an example of organic fan culture the league wants to cultivate. Garcia also touched on measuring success through football quality first – tracking how many UFL players successfully transition to the NFL – rather than just ticket sales.
She mentioned her interest in women’s rugby as a potential future investment, praising the sport for representing strength and entrepreneurship among female athletes.
The flexibility of being a startup league allows the UFL to test rules for the NFL and make mid-season adjustments, something established leagues cannot do. Fans can hear the complete interview with Dany Garcia on The Varsity podcast, available on Spotify and other podcast platforms through Odyssey and Puck.
8 Comments
by 4th&long
DG is cringe. Mike R has more substance in a tweet than the Varsity 40min interview.
Agree on the broadcast innovation, there’s limited upside, its a buzz word she loves to use because its not definable or measurable. What we need is exciting broadcast, that’s not innovation its tone and execution.
Innovation on the field ?- the KickOff sux, D Johnston is right, the tradition KO is far more exciting and at this point “innovative”.
I hate to tell them but TV ratings have not been impacted by empty stadiums. And DC’s smaller stadium is not translating into better local TV. While I will say it likely has more of an impact for other fans in the stadiums, ie being at the game. And that can build local support. But Smaller Stadiums are also cheaper. And right sizing is a good thing for profit. So there’s a few reasons for smaller stadiums.
We’ve also heard more marketing before – but 2025 didn’t see it. I have much more faith in 2026 marketing with Mike R coming on board and focused on that.
Waiting eagerly to hear Mike P around Oct 8th with 2026 markets and more info. It appears 2027 expansion is off the plate but not 2028.
by King Bomp
TV ratings were in fact impacted by empty stadiums. Less than 1 million people want to watch the UFL from a stadium with pitiful attendance. It projects a product that isn’t very successful which causes viewers lose interest quickly. The UFL can’t afford any more disengagement.
One thing the UFL brass should do is work toward financial support from the NFL. Supplying capable talent to the big league is a blessing and a curse. The talent drain should result in something financially. It’s not fair that UFL stars depart after a season or two to help the richest league in the world while the minor pro league struggles with tiny marketing & promotion budgets.
by Johnny the Angry Fuzzball
If this league is dependent upon money from the NFL, the NFL simply isn’t going to do it. They’ve been down this road and quite frankly they’re not interested in something that loses money.
Besides, the NFL is only picking off a handful of UFL stars each year. It’s not like it’s raiding the UFL rosters for talent; most UFLers are washed out of the NFL (which is no knock on the UFL). For the most part, there is no “talent drain;” it’s a slow drip. The UFL needs to find a way to be sustainable without the NFL’s help while still at the same time coexisting with it.
And whether the current owners like it or not, there is no real sustainable path to profitability right now. The best they can hope for is that the networks continue to see it as enough of a loss leader investment to keep funding it.
by King Bomp
That’s fair and accurate. Maybe “talent drain” is not the right description. The UFL is susceptible to having its top stars leave for greener pastures. Pro sports leagues are successful by marketing their top stars. If that top talent is not there year after year it becomes very challenging to gain traction.
Fortunately for the UFL, the top marketed position (QB) is fairly stable.
If any UFL player signs an NFL contract, perhaps there should be a transfer fee at the least.
by 4th&long
Look at the ACTUAL TV viewership numbers (don’t assume) and you will not see any correlation to stadium attendance and viewership.
by Brian
I think that much of what Garcia is saying comes as direct result of Mike Repole coming on board. He came in and in one press release he made the UFL look incompetent and best and at worst stupid in the way they were conducting business. Why were they so against playing in MLS venues when it was clear they had no chance of coming close to selling out even a quarter of the larger pro football stadia? Why were they so poor in marketing the league? and what ‘innovations’ is she talking about? so much of what she says seems to be coming straight from the pages of book of ‘The Empty Vessel Makes The most noise’. Fans are not concerned with gimmicks, fans care about quality football. does anyone think the NFL would lose fans if there wasn’t a 1st down marker or line of scrimmage marker on their TV screens? I’ve never liked Garcia, I don’t like the way she looks, I don’t like the sound of her voice and I especially never cared for her ‘I’m a former athlete’ story nor her empowering women message, and on a similar level I never did buy into Johnsons ‘Player 54’ rubbish.
None of that means anything to me, I watch football because I love the sport and the only that I really care about is watching top athletes play football at a high level that produces quality games. Dwayne Johnson, Moose Johnston, Danny Garcia failed the fans. I’m hoping under the stewardship of Mike Repole UFL is able to establish a firm and long lasting foundation.
by Ken Granito
I have commented on 4th & Long’s comments before and always I love his take on the game. Sometimes I FEEL the 4th & Long sentiment, but you seem to always back it up with real information. Often you have helped clarify things for me, which is pretty awesome, because I understand football. I connect the dots better than I think most in the game, but your knowledge seems to pick up where mine leaves off so I thank you for your continued writing.
As far as UFL News HUB, I love you guys. Mark, Mitch, Parks and Rifino have always been my favorites all time. I also like Zomb Phox and the ref Stephan Rachuk. I feel James Larsen attempts to put the UFL at the forefront, but I have to be honest I feel there are commenters who have a better grasp on what is real than him. It has gotten so bad that I felt at one time James Larsen wanted to promote the league, but now I feel he wants to promote himself first. I have never gotten that feeling with the 6 people I have mentioned in this writing. BTW, I also like Sue Levine. She had some catching up to do when she first arrived on the scene and maybe still has some to do, but has differing takes than us men do. It’s not a knock. It actually just so happens that although she lacks certain knowledge and history that we do, she is sometimes better able to see the story behind the story, something that is not really something we strive for. I am not saying she sometimes misses stuff, because the Memphis DC spot was really off in my opinion, but overall considering this is her first go at this, I see and have seen a great jump in her articles. TBH the people that comment along with the writers mentioned above is the lifeblood of the league.
To everyone here’s points, I agree that both the Rock & Dani Garcia have not been what the doctor has ordered with running a league. They try to hype, but they do get it wrong every single time. It’s good to have money and good to be the face of the league, but they really need to be silent partners. The problem comes down to too many people without the skills to run a football league are involved. Based just on this group, I think we have all written that football is the number one most important thing in a football league. Whether it be television ratings or talk about innovations the number one best thing should be about real football. I have written this before, if the UFL is REAL, they will easily pick up twice the amount of fans it already had. All they need to do is make football the #1 priority. I love when Dany Garcia stated, the UFL will not be the league where a game is marred by poor officiating yet they are MUCH worse than the NFL, even with the challenge flags. Somehow Mike Perreira in the USFL had the best officiated league I had EVER seen, yet they can’t do that 2 years later. The ONLY reason they don’t have it that way is because they don’t want it that way. Even on Monday night it was clear the NFL wanted the Dolphins to win. The calls were outrageous. You had to hear how the announcers tempered everything after the game, because it was clear the Jets were the better team. The Jets one of the worst teams in the league played considerably better than the Dolphins. The Jets quarterback was tackled 10 yards passed the out of bounds marker no flag, the Jets tight end was tackled and down, then a defensive lineman rambles 1, 2, 3 steps and then jumps on him and no flag is thrown. Also the Jets offensive lineman Joe Tippman has his helmet pulled right off, yet no hands to the face penalty. This after borderline penalties were called on the Jets. The Jets deserved to lose, no doubt, but also the Dolphins deserved to lose. I imagine the Jets had more money on them, so they lost. Connecting dots. I could be wrong, but so was that officiating and when you see that you have to ask yourself what could allow for that amount of horrible officiating. Football is a beautiful game, but obviously can be corrupted by money. If the UFL worries about football foremost, putting football first. Truly makes it about the player and gameplay and maybe even market it about when football was a sport, maybe not wear leather helmets, but really make it about football. The league is not looked at well for many reasons.
1. Stop over emphasizing offense. Let a punt downed at the one be the great football play that it is. Don’t move it to the 25 or 35 yard line, because you want offense and are afraid of a 16-3 game.
2. If you are wondering if you need the last week of preseason or if you should play a preseason game, you should. The NFL often has clunkers the first week of the season, but that is the NFL, they can afford them. The Roughnecks game last season really set the tone for the fans to stay home. IF there is anything you can do to put a better first week product, you do it.
3. The next expansion should have civilian team owners and that should come as early as 2027 or 2028 if you can not get it done in 2027. Having the league owned by one ownership group really hinders the belief the fan base has in the league. Think about this, when a person knocks at your door and tells you that you need knew windows, but elderly person who answers the door say you did my windows last year. The person trying to dig up money puts a call into their office and says, oh we did install your windows. You should get a door now. This is a true story. Is there anyone not trying to sell you something. The way to offset that is to have multiple people with something in the game so that there is a feeling of fairness. When one corporation owns all the pieces a concern grows. A concern that maybe you want the playoffs to be hosted in a venue that has the largest attendance. And when the bad calls seem to support that stance you are going to lose a good deal of fans. Outside team ownership provides a sense that someone is watching out for the fans’ best interest because there is another interested party.
4. Get announcers really in tuned with football. Jason Garrett, Kevin Kugler and the best of the bunch is Joel Klatt. I know everyone loves the voice of Joe Tessitore. Hell it truly is great, but he gets it wrong so often. I know well over 50% of UFL players. With a little studying I can know them all. Are you telling me there isn’t someone that understands and KNOWS football and is a fan of the UFL that can call a game. I mean is it the voice and not what is said. IF I hear Joe Tessitore get all loud for a 1 yard play again, I am going to lose it and shut off the TV. That is not calling a game, that is someone trying to promote the league, himself and it really discredits the league as being football, because getting ready for a one yard gain really shows he has no understanding of the game and isn’t the tour guide supposed to know what it is touring? I mean really he should get ready to rumble! In all honesty, I like watching ESPN games better in a bar as there is no sound.
I will leave it there.
Some positives: Just happy they have the most best, obvious choice in Columbus there. I don’t necessarily feel Houston is safe, nor should it be. I mean would you rather higher a guy in Houston or lower your ability to negotiate in Michigan. Hoping the 8 teams come back with Michigan (though I would only do so with the soccer stadium on the table or a much better contract with Ford Field). I mean, to me, you have gotten the community involved. To me, it is not only about having a soccer stadium, but I feel the soccer stadium with a well established fan base is strong so if Michigan can pull that off with also having Columbus that makes 3 solid venues. I also think that as you get civilian team owners in it will give the league more credibility and will build the Stallions brand that much better. When you consider that and Defenders, that gives 5 strong teams. Once the league has 10 teams the league will be that much stronger as there will be an opportunity to get another round of playoffs while also having a lower and mid echelon group whereby teams that might be looked at lower level can score some real upsets not league generated ones like that Stallions and Showboats last year that actually hurt the league instead of help it.
by Ken Granito
One thing that I find VERY interesting. My girlfriend who was watching a NFL game with me. I can’t remember which play, but she saw a terrible call or non-call the officials missed badly. It may have even been one of the Jets calls but I am unsure, but I thought it was interesting. She asked why won’t the coach challenge as she has seen it many times in the UFL and I explained to her that it was because you can’t challenge that in the NFL. She was like, oh that is right. I laugh because with all the knocks the league does take and sometimes by me, the league really does have an opportunity to make inroads with fans. I think they take every opportunity to get away from the gimmicks and really take the great game of football and let it become the main focal point of the league.