It is no secret the city of Birmingham has been struggling to fill the stands for their professional sports teams in recent years, with the exception of the Birmingham Bulls. So much so it was announced this week that the city's NBA G-league team, the Birmingham Squadron, will be relocating to a suburb of their mother team's home city of New Orleans. The Stallions were also rumored to be on the chopping block this off season. The biggest issue many stated was the limited and ineffective marketing, which seems to be rectified under the leadership of incoming investor, Mike Repole, who made a statement/ challenge to the Stallions fan base in the offseason to #packprotective .
Mike Repole is the marketing genius who marketed two businesses so well he was able to sell to the Coca-Cola Company, twice, in Vitamin Water and Body Armor. He is also no stranger to the city of Birmingham as we host one of the largest independent Coca-Cola bottlers in the world, Coca-Cola United. Mr. Repole is also a very outspoken New York native, who has no problem speaking his mind on his "haters" or pulling a prank on the Stallions prior to the schedule release with a graphic that showed the Stallions playing every game on a Sunday, including Easter and Mother's Day. He obviously knows this will draw attention and feed the algorithms to help market the league/ team.
Frustrated and disappointed that the @UFLStallions schedule was leaked early.
— Repole Stable (@RepoleStable) January 22, 2026
So much for surprises.
Full @TheUFL schedule drops tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/wCfEs8d82A
The social media attention is just the tip of the iceberg. There were multiple advertisements for the League during the College Football playoff on ESPN. They also aired ads on FOX during the NFL Playoffs as well. This is an improvement upon last year with much more subtle ads that aired closer to the start of the season. The earlier airings of the ads to get the news out that the league is back will also help attract new fans.
Another #UFL commercial today on the FOX broadcast of the #NFLPlayoffs with some new additions to the ad 👀 https://t.co/WtCeq2EMEp pic.twitter.com/OLAw9QHosc
— United Football Media (@The_UFM) January 26, 2026
In the city, we are seeing the efforts as well. We saw the mascot Stanley at multiple sporting events this Winter. He attended the 205 Night celebration for the Birmingham Squadron. He also hung out at a UAB Basketball game about a month ago as well as a Birmingham Bulls game. Stanley was not the only member of the Stallions at the events they usually include a member of their ticketing sales team that would hand out Stallions branded merchandise and talked to the spectators about purchasing tickets. He was even joined by the incoming head coach, AJ McCarron at the JLab Birmingham Bowl, who wound up signing a few autographs for fans.
On top of that the Stallions had their annual preseason fan engagement event at Protective Stadium last weekend. The Fan Rally was advertised much better than previous events, as the original was rescheduled due to inclimate weather, this gave the marketing team plenty of time to ensure everything was ready. It all started on Friday at Craft's on 280, a bar in Homewood and Full Moon Barbecue on the Southside. Coach McCarron, Stanley, and the rest of the marketing team joined WJOX radio show "3Man Front" at Crafts on 280 where fans got to meet and greet with player and Coach McCarron while enjoying a meal and maybe even a drink or two. They also gave away free meals at the Southside location of Full Moon Barbecue. Then all sights were on Protective Stadium on Saturday where AJ and players met with media, while fans, lined up outside the venue, waiting to enter were greeted by Steel, the Stallions' live mascot. Once inside they had a live DJ and mutiple photo opportunites including one that allowed them to get their own customized schedule poster with their photo on it! They also had free refreshments, autograph and Q&A sessions with the team and even allowed fans to get season tickets and see where they would be sitting before they purchased them. There were activities for all ages as they also had face painting and a balloon artist. This was the largest turnout for a pre-season event in the history of the Stallions with over 500 people in attendance for the event.
On top of the events they are getting a big following from fans of their coaching staff. AJ McCarron, two time national champion QB at Alabama, has had a following in the state since his time on the Capstone. His return to the state in the inaugural season of the UFL was the largest turn out for the Stallions since the inaugural season of the USFL. The Stallions also are bringing on former Bama recruiter, Tyler Siskey, who also co-stars in his podcast "McCready and Siskey" alongside longtime sports reporter, Neal McCready, where McCarron announced his story of how he was no longer going to be the signal caller for the St. Louis Battlehawks. Kevin Sherrer, the Stallions DC, is also a former member of the Crimson Tide coaching staff. This seems to be another marketing stratigy by the League as they hire former Buckeye, Ted Ginn Jr., as the head coach of the Columbus Aviators. They also placed former Louisville Cardinal, Chris Redman as the head coach of the Kings.
From Male High School to Louisville legend 🏈
— United Football League (@TheUFL) December 30, 2025
Chris Redman is home as Head Coach in Louisville 👑 pic.twitter.com/6g7dEyFXSa
The League is also bringing back the giveaway, as they announced their theme nights earlier today. With each theme night will be a giveaway for the first 5000 fans in attendance. This is a major move in their latest attempt to combat the great television product the league has had over the years. The Stallions' theme nights are as follows:
Saturday, April 18, 2026 – 3 PM
Theme: Magic City Kickoff
Giveaway: Red Stallions T-Shirt
Friday, April 24, 2026 – 7 PM
Theme: United By Giving – Stronger Together
Giveaway: Stallions + Children’s of Alabama Branded Clear Tote
Saturday, May 9, 2026 – 7 PM
Theme: School Spirit/Pride – Stallions School Night
Giveaway: Special Stallions T-Shirt
Sunday, May 17, 2026 – Noon
Theme: Hats Off to Heroes
Giveaway: Special Stallions Hat
Saturday, May 30, 2026 – 2 PM
Theme: Youth/Kids Day
Giveaway: AJ McCarron Bobblehead
Stallions single game tickets are available now.
— State of the Stallions 🏆🏆🏆 (@SOTStallions) February 2, 2026
FYI, there will be a season-long lineup of special giveaways, including bobbleheads, commemorative t-shirts and hats, & branded tote bags.
The full schedule of giveaways, entertainment acts, & theme nights will be announced at a… pic.twitter.com/f5HtwTpYwh
Overall, this version of the UFL has successfully gotten the word out about the upcoming season. There are more and more local appearances of AJ McCarron on local radio. We are also seeing local influencers joining the Stallions bandwagon and helping get the word out. It seems like this hard work is paying of for the League with the large attendances at the Fan Rallies. Whether all of this recent attention equates to higher game attendance or not, is yet to be seen, but it absolutely leads one to be optimistic as the League prepares to kickoff on March 27th in Louisville as Coach McCarron take on the Kings for the season opener.