Conversely, empty stands will make it more difficult for supporters at home to feel obligated to attend.
With the AAF in 2019, the XFL in 2020, the USFL in 2022 and 2023, and the XFL in 2023, that has been one of the difficulties of spring football in recent years.
Despite a few notable exceptions (like St. Louis, which has supported the Battlehawks partly as a jab at the NFL and the Rams), the majority of the games are notable for having extremely low attendance.
Many have sizable gaps in their lower level seating arrangements.
Unsurprisingly, the turnout for the UFL’s debut was mediocre.
According to SI . com’s Mike Mitchell, 14,153 people attended the Birmingham Stallions vs. Arlington Renegade opening game.
In the second contest, the Michigan Panthers will play the St. The Louis Battlehawks brought 9,444 fans to Ford Field.
To be honest, it would have made more sense for the Battlehawks to play at home.
They could have started some early momentum if they had attracted a much bigger crowd right out of the gates.
That being said, leagues such as this produce these kinds of figures.
Playing in smaller stadiums with a smaller attendance would be the best course of action, if only to avoid pictures of empty seats.
Because nothing says “who cares?” like large, empty plastic seat segments.
The ratings will be the final piece of the puzzle.
Yesterday, Fox was in two games.
There will be two events on ESPN today.
Another constructive criticism for spring football leagues already dealing with significant challenges is that this is not exactly the best weekend to make a dent in the Nielsen numbers.
More simply put, why begin this weekend, when baseball is back in full swing and the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament is forming its final four?
Coming out of the gates with a bang is always preferable, though it’s not impossible to start quietly and gain momentum.
If the UFL is ever to generate enough revenue to survive, it must outperform the more established “XFL” and “USFL” labels. The UFL is a brand-new organization.
LOS ANGELES: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s one-inning stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers ended after he was charged with five earned runs, which was almost a quarter of his total from his previous season in Japan. This came just after he signed the biggest contract ever for a starting pitcher. After suffering two poor performances in spring training, Yamamoto’s ability to adjust to the world’s most competitive baseball league in the US was initially questioned.
Of Yamamoto, an athlete he is still learning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “There’s a lot of confidence and there’s a lot of pride and fire.”. I believe he takes it personally, but he also acknowledges the contract and his contribution. and saw it as personal. For his home debut, he was really focused on pitching well. “.
Despite a disastrous debut from South Korea, Yamamoto, starting his second game, maintained the St. The Louis Cardinals held the opposition scoreless through five mostly shutout innings on Saturday night, and had they not experienced a 35-minute rain delay following the fourth, they would have continued to pitch.
The Dodgers lost 6-5 as a result of Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly giving up five runs in the top of the seventh and Shohei Ohtani flying out in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded and his team trailing by one. Nevertheless, the positive vibes surrounding Yamamoto’s start were too great to ignore.
Through an interpreter, Yamamoto expressed that he felt as though he “had my stuff back.”. He continued, saying that he was just “calm today” and hadn’t made many changes before. ****.
About his struggles leading up to his first start, Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness said, “You hate to admit it or say it, but I think it was more nerves than anything.”. “He’s a special talent, man, for being able to kind of get through that and experience that, that inning snowballing on him, to watch him bounce back the way he did.”. “.”.
Using his splitter and curveball, Yamamoto generated eight of his nine swings and misses while striking out five batters, including the first three he faced. Yamamoto’s curveball, which is by far his slowest pitch and is typically thrown in the upper 70s, is what gets him in-zone swings and misses, but McGuiness was encouraged to see that the latter has been used more often as a pitch to get back into counts rather than a splitter that works to finish guys off.
Yamamoto threw for a strike 79 percent of the time on Saturday compared to 43 percent in Korea with his upper-90s four-seam fastball, another elite pitch that is difficult to pick up from his low arm slot. The other three offerings were performing so well that McGuiness continued, “that the cutter, which he mostly uses to dart in on opposing left-handed batters, was mostly abandoned.”.
Dodgers outfielder-turned-shortstop Mookie Betts, who homered for the fourth time on Saturday and is riding a 2 point 109 OPS through his first five games, said of the player, “He did an amazing job bouncing back, not letting the first one affect him.”. You couldn’t really tell what happened, even on the day of that initial start. Seeing someone who is under so much pressure and manage things so effectively is really impressive. “.
Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers on December after winning three MVPs in a row with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. 21, reaching an understanding 12 days following Ohtani’s signing of a $700 million, 10-year contract. At the beginning of camp, Yamamoto amazed teammates with his skills and dominance. He was, however, shelled by the San Diego Padres in his regular-season debut, giving up four hits, a walk, a hit by pitch, and a wild pitch before recording the third out in his two previous Cactus League starts, where he gave up nine runs in 7⅔ innings.
In preparation for his second start, Yamamoto made a small adjustment: instead of breaking his right hand free from his glove to fire a pitch, he keeps his hands slightly higher when he reaches a windup position. Roberts claimed it improved the timing of his delivery. However, the Dodgers did not shower him with advice before his Dodger Stadium debut. They have allowed Yamamoto and his personal trainer, Osamu Yada, to set the tone in the early going of their relationship.
McGuiness remarked, “We’re excited to kind of learn from him because it’s definitely a new style for us to look at.”. Our primary goal is to become familiar with his language, approach, and playbook. Make sure he feels at ease in that location. He will be taught some of the concepts gradually as we proceed. However, it was really impressive how quickly he recovered and continued to play, giving us an extra inning without worrying about the delay. For the bullpen, that was enormous. I was incredibly proud of what he accomplished today. “.
