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 an immediate return, has implemented some experimental changes that extend beyond the traditions of football and on one occasion has changed a rule in midseason following an unusual and dissatisfying conclusion to an overtime game.
How has that approach impacted the ecosystem of spring football? It has been good enough to begin work on an expansion of teams. On the field, the returns are only beginning to register as the UFL opens the second half of its season.
Best of NFL Nation
• Stowers' connection to past Eagle Matthews • UFL Week 5 Power Rankings • Why Raiders' draft invested in secondary • Revealing Prospect X and his draft journey • Vikes' draft fallout: picks to Greenard trade
After 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 seasoned spring coaches. The D.C. 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 A.J. McCarron (Birmingham Stallions) and receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (Columbus Aviators).
Let's take a closer look at some of the trends, rule changes and other takeaways from the first half of Repole's first season with the league.
Scoring is up
In describing his plans for juicing up scoring in the league, Repole said he wanted to see "34-31" games. The UFL isn't anywhere close to averaging the 65 combined points per game that would require, but it has made a significant jump from both of its previous two seasons.
Even including a slow start, UFL games are averaging 46.3 points per game. That's a 20% rise from their average at last season's midpoint (38.7) and 8% higher than in 2024 (42.7).
For context, the NFL averaged 46 points per game in 2025 and, over a longer range, has averaged 44.2 points per game since the start of the century.
"What's been great is just the progression of the teams and the players from Week 1 when there wasn't a lot of points," said UFL head of officiating Dean Blandino. "Now we're averaging right around where the NFL was at the end of last year, which was a good number. So everybody's getting comfortable."