USFL Makes Key Hire As It Seeks Investors

The USFL announced earlier this week that it would return for the second season in more markets, with the goal of adding more teams in later years.

On Wednesday, the New York Post reported that the Fox-owned entity has hired investment bank Allen & Co. to find investors to assist in the league’s expansion.

Fox’s reported investment goal is to raise between $150 million and $200 million.

• For the first season, all eight teams played in Birmingham, Alabama, where the league’s office is located.
• Next season, the USFL wants to play in two-to-four markets that will each host multiple teams.

Fox will move forward with the second season even without an investor. The media entity, which committed $150 million to the USFL over three years, is using some of Fox’s infrastructure to control costs.

The league will use a similar schedule in its second season. This year, the USFL’s 36 regular-season TV broadcasts averaged around 715,000 viewers across Fox, NBC, FS1, and USA Network. The league’s championship takes place on Sunday.

Big Deals

Allen & Co. recently advised the Denver Broncos on its $4.65 billion sale — a record for a U.S. sports team. The investment bank also represented the Wilpon family on its majority stake sale of the New York Mets for $2.48 billion in 2020. In 2019, Allen & Co. brokered Joe Tsai’s deal to acquire the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center for $3.4 billion.