USFL Gambling On Houston Fans Traveling To Birmingham For “Home Games”

The start-up, alternative professional football league using the old name of the USFL recently opened up ticket sales.

True Gamblers fans are going to want to get in on the “Touchdown 10 Pack”, essentially the equivalent of season tickets. With prices ranging anywhere from $106.75 to $395.45 per ticket, Houston fans can buy the opportunity to travel to Birmingham Alabama to watch their team. Birmingham is only a ten hour, four minute drive from Houston, so Gamblers fans should get ready to watch their “home” games starting next month.

New USFL inaugural schedule:

• 4/16 Houston Gamblers AT the Michigan Panthers, in Birmingham
• 4/23 Birmingham Stallions AT Houston Gamblers, in Birmingham
• 5/1 Tampa Bay Bandits AT Houston Gamblers, in Birmingham
• 5/7 Houston Gamblers AT New Orleans Breakers, in Birmingham
• 5/15 Pittsburgh Maulers AT Houston Gamblers, in Birmingham
• 5/21 Houston Gamblers AT New Jersey Generals, in Birmingham
• 5/29 Philadelphia Stars AT Houston Gamblers, in Birmingham
• 6/3 Houston Gamblers AT Tampa Bay Bandits, in Birmingham
• 6/11 Houston Gamblers AT Birmingham Stallions, in Birmingham
• 6/19 New Orleans Breakers AT Houston Gamblers, in Birmingham

Yes, you read that right, Houston is playing a home game in Birmingham against the team that actually calls Birmingham home on April 23rd. Confusing.

Assuming you have a car/truck that gets a modest 25 miles to the gallon and you, your spouse, and two kids head out Birmingham for one of these games, expect to spend $275 on gas, $425-1,581.80 on tickets, $200 for a hotel room and $160 for food/drink. Factor in souvenirs (the cheapest being a plain tee shirt with the Gamblers logo on the front) at a bare minimum $110 more, and the average family can expect to spend $1,160 all in to sit in the cheapest seats in the stadium to support their “home team.”

If you have finer tastes, that number can easily balloon to $2,656.80. For one game. Over the course of a ten game season, the USFL is banking on thousands of Houstonians shelling out anywhere from $11,600.00 to $26,568.00 to support this team in person. As much as any of us might want to follow this Gamblers 2.0 incarnation, the tea leaves aren’t offering up many signs of hope.

With skyrocketing gas prices, the lawsuit drama surrounding the ownership of the USFL and team names, and the nearly vertical uphill battle facing any startup professional football league, odds are the Gamblers won’t get much in-person support. Not to mention this is all happening in the backyard of the NCAA powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide, which has a choke hold on the local fanbase.

Like the XFL and so many others, the USFL will likely not make it to season’s end.