r/battlehawks

I was curious how often this actually happens, so I went back through the schedules.
Since 2024, the Battlehawks have had 11 regular-season home games on the same day the Cardinals were also playing at home at Busch Stadium.
By year (out of 5 home games a season):
2024: 4
2025: 3
2026: 4
And on top of that, this is out of the leagues control but all 3 Battlehawks home playoff games from 2024-2026 were on days the Cardinals were also home.
So that’s 14 Battlehawks home games in four seasons competing with a Cardinals home game downtown.

I know St. Louis is a great sports town, but this just feels like the league is unnecessarily hurting itself. You’re asking a lot of the same local sports fans to choose between the Cardinals and Battlehawks, sometimes with the Blues playing too.

Obviously the Cardinals aren’t the only thing that affects Battlehawks attendance, but with only a handful of UFL home games every year, avoiding Cardinals home dates seems like something the league should prioritize whenever possible.

Archive link here.

>With his first season as Battlehawks head coach behind him, former St. Louis Rams wide receiver Ricky Proehl already directed his attention toward next season and the chase for the franchise’s first United Football League championship when he roamed around the football field at Lindberg High School with a bounce in his step and enthusiasm in his voice last weekend.

>Proehl, named head coach in December 2025, led the Battlehawks to a 6-4 record and a playoff loss to the eventual UFL champion Louisville Kings in his first season. A former Super Bowl champion that spent 17 years in the NFL, Proehl took over for Anthony Becht, who the UFL tapped as head coach of first-year team the Orlando Storm.

>Last weekend, Proehl returned to St. Louis to be part of the UFL Showcase that brought out roughly 250-275 athletes hopeful of getting a chance to play in the league. Between drills, Proehl spoke to the Post-Dispatch about pending changes to his coaching staff, where things stand with the team’s quarterback position, looking for roster additions on the showcase circuit and Battlehawks players getting chances to catch on with NFL teams.

>The Battlehawks were the No. 2 seed heading into the UFL playoffs last season, However, the Battlehawks ranked sixth in yards per game (out of eight teams), sixth in scoring and seventh in third-down percentage through the regular season.

>Their offense, which had three different starting quarterbacks during the season, also featured All-UFL selections in wide receiver Hakeem Butler, tight end Tyler Neville and center Mike Panasiuk. Butler also earned UFL Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second time in his career.

>More than once last the season, Proehl expressed frustration with the offense’s performance. In some cases, that was execution. In other instances, Proehl stressed a need to simplify the offense and be more committed to what they did best.

>Well, Proehl confirmed on Sunday that AJ Smith will not return as offensive coordinator and play-caller next season. Proehl wants to implement an offense more similar to the one the Rams and Carolina Panthers ran during his time as a player.

>“We’ve made some staff changes,” Proehl said. “I want to run my offense, the offense we ran in St. Louis and at Carolina. It’s a number system that will tag code words, but I just think as simple as it is we can make it as complex as we want as far as the things that we do and how to attack a defense. But I think from a learning standpoint, these kids will be able to learn it in two weeks in its entirety.

>“I’m excited. I really am. I just got to find that coordinator, that offensive coordinator that can run it. Because I don’t want to run it, but if I have to I will. But I’m excited for our players because I know what this system can do. It can score a lot of points and be very effective on a consistent basis. That’s what’s I’m excited about.”

>At the same time, Proehl must hunt for a new defensive coordinator. Corey Chamblin, the UFL Assistant Coach of the Year, has taken a position at a Power 4 conference college football program after he coordinated the Battlehawks defense in 2026.

>Defensively, the Battlehawks led the UFL in allowing the fewest total yards allowed, rushing yards allowed, rushing touchdowns allowed, opponent rushing average and first downs allowed during the regular season. They also allowed the league’s fewest yards per reception and led the league with 31 sacks. Defensive tackle Carlos Davis earned All-UFL honors. Davis joined Pita Taumoepenu and Demone Harris as Battlehawks ranked among the top 10 in the league in sacks.

>“We lost Corey, our defensive coordinator who I love,” Proehl said. “Corey did a tremendous job. They both did. AJ did a great job too. But Corey, I didn’t expect him to leave. … That’s what this league is all about. It’s not just about the players, it’s about coaches. I’m hoping to look around for some young coaches who are hungry to learn and want us to be a steppingstone for them to coach whether it’s in college or professionally.”

>One other tidbit that Proehl acknowledged about the offense. Late last season, quarterback Luis Perez played through a oblique injury that Perez apparently kept to himself.

>Considering the Battlehawks went through multiple starting quarterbacks last season, Proehl didn’t deny that he’ll keep an eye out for potential quarterback additions this offseason.

>“There’s a couple out here, so we’ll take a look,” Proehl said during the UFL Showcase in St. Louis. “I’ll be at some other of these showcases. We need to find some depth. I don’t know. Luis was injured last year. Hopefully, he can come back healthy. We need to get some depth. We need to look for quarterbacks. That’s our priority.”

>Whoever plays quarterback for the Battlehawks could be without the team’s most dangerous offensive weapon and primary pass catching threat in Butler. The 6-foot-5 former fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Butler signed with the Denver Broncos this offseason and is currently in training camp with the Sean Payton-coached squad.

>Battlehawks defensive back/punt returner Sean Fresch also signed with the Broncos. Running back Kylin James also took part in a workout with the Detroit Lions. The Lions backfield already includes former Battlehawks standout and All-UFL running back Jacob Saylor.

>Proehl has been a vocal advocate for Butler getting another chance in the NFL, and he’s hopeful that the Broncos will serve as Butler’s breakthrough.

>“There’s a lot of guys getting workouts, not necessarily getting signed, but for Hakeem — he belongs,” Proehl said. “He looks the part. He’s a team guy. He’s just a playmaker, and it’s just identifying who he is and what his strengths are and plugging him in to what he does well.

>“There’s no doubt in my mind he can play in the National Football League and be successful, be an impact player. It’s just a matter of him finding the right spot, and I hope Sean Payton and Denver is that right spot.”

Repole taking full responsibility for drops in DC and St. Louis while throwing one of his trademark digs at Houston.

The UFL will increase spending on local business-side payroll and marketing for the St. Louis Battlehawks and D.C. Defenders after both of the league’s strongest markets suffered double-digit attendance declines in 2026, with league business head Mike Repole apologizing to fans in those cities for the underinvestment.

St. Louis’ average attendance fell 21% to 23,257 this season, while D.C. dropped 31% to about 9,000. Repole, who invested in the league and took over day-to-day control in July 2025, said the declines came after he deliberately shifted resources toward launching the UFL’s three new markets in Louisville, Columbus and Orlando.

“I owe both an apology, but I hope they’ll understand that I did it so the St. Louis Battlehawks can be there for the next 40 years, and that I did this so the D.C. Defenders can be there for the next 40 years,” Repole told SBJ.

Next year, Repole said, the fuel will go back on the fire in St. Louis and D.C.

“St. Louis and D.C. will have more resources than they did the previous five years,” Repole said. “Local staff, payroll, interns, agencies, more field marketing, getting the players out there around town.”

Repole’s contrition extended to Houston as well. In July, the league announced it would cease operations in Houston and Birmingham. In Birmingham, Repole has said on social media repeatedly the problem is venues. The 47,000-seat Protective Stadium is too big for UFL games, and no 10,000-15,000-seat venue is available.

Houston’s failure, however, was the UFL’s own fault, Repole said. In a massive, highly competitive sports market, the Houston UFL club (or its equivalent in the predecessor XFL or USFL) played in three different venues under two different brands in five seasons. It was practically invisible, local sources say, and Repole jokingly acknowledged that about 5,000 people in the 8-million-strong Houston region will miss them.

“If there was ever a [class] on how not to run a sports league team in that market, I think the United Football League, everyone can use our example,” Repole said. “I take ownership there. But Houston is such a big city … you’re not going to be able to win back a market that you’ve made 25 mistakes every year in.”

The inconsistent traction across the various UFL cities is at the heart of the challenge facing Repole and the UFL’s board, which includes Fox Sports, RedBird Capital Partners and ESPN along with Repole. A league is only as strong as its weakest clubs, but it remains in cost-containment mode so it’s difficult to maximize upside opportunity while also addressing weaknesses.

The yet-to-be-announced two new markets to replace Birmingham and Houston will require startup investment. But Repole said teams across the board will have the ability to do more local marketing -- and that should not be interpreted as a sign of a greater overall commitment from the UFL’s owners, but in reorganizing priorities.

“I’m really shifting resources,” Repole said. “I inherited a lot of resources that I thought weren’t in line with what an entrepreneurial company in survival mode should do.”

Overall, the picture for the UFL remains uneven, though it became the first 11-on-11, non-NFL tackle football league to complete three straight seasons since the original USFL did in 1985.

Some games attract TV audiences over 1 million, and in person, fill the majority of an appropriately sized venue. Many others do not. Overall, attendance has declined in consecutive years, and in 2025, overall TV viewership was up about 1 percent to 645,000 on average, but is still far off the debut UFL season average in 2024 of 812,000.

But Repole points to the good starts in Louisville, Orlando and Columbus as proof they’re on the right track. He promises there will be additional big “audibles” as they look for the right product-market-venue fit with a quick-pivot mentality, and promises growth to 16 teams by 2035.

“I mean, the league was in a four-year downslide,” Repole said. “I mean, we were probably 500 feet from hitting the ocean. And we kind of leveled the plane right now. I always talk about fixing and flying the plane. Last year was a complete fixing the plane. It was a complete fixing the plane.”

Detroit Lions center Cade Mays just went down for a significant period of the season with a wrist injury. Mike Panasiuk-2026 All-UFL Team Center (St. Louis Battlehawks) have your agent contact Detroit. They are in need of a starting center.