Our midseason look at the UFL: How have new rules fared?

By his own admission, new UFL co-owner Mike Repole is running the spring football league like a start-up company. He has invested money with no clear path to immediate returns, implemented some experimental changes that go beyond football’s conventions and on one occasion changed a rule in midseason after the unusual and unsatisfactory conclusion of an overtime game.

How has that approach affected the ecosystem of spring football? It has been great to start working on expanding the teams. On the field, returns have begun to be recorded as the UFL begins the second half of its season.

Following an overhaul of the head coaching ranks and the installation of some local heroes with minimal coaching experience, the league’s top two teams are coached by the league’s most experienced spring coaches. The DC Defenders (Shannon Harris) and Orlando Storm (Anthony Becht) are both 4-1. On the other hand, the league’s two 1-4 teams are coached by recently retired quarterback AJ McCarron (Birmingham Stallions) and receivers. ted ginn jr. (Columbus Aviators).

Let’s take a closer look at some trends, rule changes and other findings from the first half of Repoll’s first season with the league.

scoring is up

Describing his plans to increase scoring in the league, Repoll said he wanted to see a “34–31” game. The NFL isn’t even close to averaging the 65 combined points per game that would be required, but it has made a significant jump compared to its last two seasons.

Even including the slow start, UFL games are averaging 46.3 points per game. This is 20% more than their average at the midpoint of last season (38.7) and 8% more than in 2024 (42.7).

For context, the NFL has averaged 46 points per game in 2025 and, in the longer term, has averaged 44.2 points per game since the turn of the century.

“What has been great is the progress the teams and players have made since Week 1, when there weren’t a lot of points,” said Dean Blandino, UFL head of officiating. “Now we’re right around the NFL average level at the end of last year, which was a good number. So everyone is getting comfortable.”

punts are too low

One of the primary methods used by the UFL for juiced scoring is to prohibit punts when the line of scrimmage is inside the opponents’ 50-yard line. Instead, teams must either go for it on fourth down or attempt a field goal.

Not surprisingly, this has led to a nearly 40% drop in punts (95-league wide) compared to the same period last season (152). The rule has saved the coaches from themselves several times, as there have only been seven touchbacks on punts so far.

On average, UFL games average 4.8 punts per game. For context, NFL teams averaged 7.1 punts per game last season.

Careful use of 4-point field goals

In addition to the ban on punts, Repole also supported awarding four points for any field goal converted from 60 yards or more. Defenders and kickers are the only team to experiment with it Matt McCrane Converted two of his three attempts (both from exactly 60 yards).

Multiple kickers have demonstrated range. of louisville tanner brown and houston’s John Hoyland Each converted from 59 yards, while St. Louis’ tucker mccann There’s a 58-yarder and Orlando’s Michael Lantz has been good with 57.

The passing game is back, but…

Through five games of the 2025 season, UFL quarterbacks were throwing 10% fewer yards and 15 fewer touchdowns than at the same point in the 2024 season. His 2026 numbers (186.5 pass yards per game, 53 passing touchdowns) are almost back to 2024, but Repoll acknowledged the league needs to elevate its quarterbacks.

Four weeks into the season, more than half the league was involved in a series of trades to reallocate existing quarterbacks and compensate for injuries. matte coral Went from Birmingham to Orlando instead of Dorian Thompson-Robinson. of louisville jason bean and DC’s Mike DiLillo swapped places, and luis perez Went from Dallas to St. Louis.

The best quarterback performance has come from Dallas’ Austin ReedWho started the season with a 376-yard game. He has regressed in recent weeks, but still leads the league with 1,102 passing yards and 12 touchdowns in five games.

However, Repole said on “The Pat McAfee Show” this week that upgrading the talent at quarterback will be a high priority next season. Before the unpublished newbie diego pavia Signed with NFL Baltimore RavensRepole said he was “ready to sign him tomorrow and start him this weekend.” Later, Repole tweeted that the UFL in 2027 will be “bigger. More talent. More big name brand players.”

appearance is flat

Repoll’s biggest first-year initiative is to relocate to smaller stadiums and focus on filling them to create a football-like atmosphere on site. As a result, stadiums may look less empty, even if attendance – averaging less than 12,000 per game – remains roughly the same as the 2025 and 2024 seasons.

St. Louis leads the way with an average of 25,700 over its two games, while two Texas teams — Houston (5,930) and Dallas (6,731) — rank at the bottom. The highest attendances of all eight teams came at their first home games.