The Columbus Aviators, Columbus’s new professional football team, are eight games through their inaugural season. The team is part of the the United Football League, which itself is very new, as it began its first season in March of 2024. The league was created from a merger between the XFL and United States Football League, both of which were also recent attempts at a professional spring football league. The allure to spring football is that it’s played during the offseason of the much more popular National Football League, which takes place in the fall. The Aviators have played their games in Historic Crew Stadium, which as the name suggests, served as the home of the Columbus Crew MLS team until they moved to their new stadium in 2021.
The Aviators most recent matchup was a loss to the Birmingham Stallions on Sunday, with a final score of 3-14. This loss put the Aviators at a record of 2 wins and 6 losses, which currently places them at last place out of 8 teams in the league. This makes the playoffs highly unlikely for Columbus’s new team, as they’d have to finish within the top 4 teams. To do this, not only do they have to win their last two games, they’d also have to depend on a number of losses from other teams, especially the Houston Gamblers, Dallas Renegades, Louisville Kings, and aforementioned Stallions.
Still, the Aviators have continued to show a little more promise. For starters, they’ve seen somewhat more frequent wins, especially following an 0-3 start to the season. But although they are yet to replicate this, they’re getting close, with an 0-2 losing streak right now. However, as far as statistics go, many would suggest that the Aviators are performing far better than the record shows. Their defense allows for the second-fewest yards in the league at 265.4 per game, and their offense leads the league in both time of possession and first downs at 139 currently. These positive aspects have been often counteracted by other things like their poor run defense, and poor kicking-game.
Among the more impressive aspects of the Aviators’ season so far has been their attendance. Unlike their record, they actually rank in the top half of the UFL for this metric. In fact, the Aviators are currently third in the league for average attendance at 10,629 per game, closely following the Louisville Kings, who boast an average of 11,399 per game. Both of these teams distantly trail the Saint Louis Battlehawks, who have averaged 22,893 fans per game. Hopefully this means that the Aviators can continue to play in Columbus for years to come, especially if their product on the field can show improvement.
