Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
Three new cities are joining the UFL, however as the league announced this comes at the cost of three previously established franchises. The Columbus Aviators, Louisville Kings, and Orlando Storm all join the UFL. While the San Antonio Brahmas and the Memphis Showboats have ceased operations. The third team, the Michigan Panthers, have suspended operations, leaving the door open for a potential return. As the league is eyeing expansion for 2028.
After a long wait, Columbus is being awarded their first professional football team since 1992. As the Ohio Glory played one season in NFL Europe in 1992. Before that Columbus had a team from 1900 to 1904 called the Columbus Panhandles.
The Aviators will play at Historic Crew Stadium the former home of the Columbus Crew which sits roughly 27,000. The Aviators will offer Ohio State fans football in the spring and as co-owner Mike Repole said, was one of the primary reasons for choosing Colombus as a location.
The name for the team comes from Ohio’s slogan as the birthplace of aviation and was available for the UFL from their trademark on “Aviators” from the Las Vegas Aviators of the now defunct TSL. The team will have navy and powder blue as their primary colors with red and white as tertiary colors to highlight their jerseys.
The two other teams added are the Orlando Storm and the Louisville Kings. Orlando last had a team in 2023, the Orlando Guardians, and now moves to a smaller stadium like the rest of the teams in the league. Louisville is similar to Columbus in being new to the recent spring football trend, with their last team competing in 1980.
Two other teams got rebrands, as the Arlington Renegades move to Frisco and become the Dallas Renegades. And in a confusing move the Houston Roughnecks rename to the Houston Gamblers, who also previously competed before the USFL-XFL merger.
The UFL made these moves to “elevate the fan experience” by “focusing on smaller, more intimate settings”. With the average capacity of a stadium being about 25,000 rather than 40,000-60,000 as in past years.
The UFL enters their third season, but with five of the eight teams in the league rebranding, consistency becomes a question. As spring football has undergone numerous changes since the concept became popular in 2017. The UFL saw a 5% dip in attendance in 2025 and a 25% dip in television viewers. Hence, these rebrands and moves to soccer stadiums may counteract these dips and regain interest in new markets.
However, they run the risk of losing support from the established fanbases. Especially that of the fans of the Michigan Panthers, who were the only team to see an increase in ticket sales in 2025. Their suspension comes due to the high rent of Ford Field costing $500,00 a game. However, the door remains opened as they look to move into AlumniFi Field after in finishes construction in 2028.
As for the Aviators and the other new teams, there has yet to be any information on how their rosters will be built. Furthermore, it is unknown what will become of the old teams’ rosters, whether they will be simply transferred, or drafted from is up for speculation. What is for certain is that the Aviators are clear for take off as football is coming to Columbus this spring.
