re: UFL is surprisingly entertaining

This is a part I've never understood about the spring football leagues. I think it works best when the team cities are markets the NFL doesn't serve so it's more exciting for those areas.

If it was me it would be the following cities for the UFL:

San Diego
Salt Lake City
San Antonio (current)
Memphis (current)
Birmingham (current)
St. Louis
Orlando
Fort Lauderdale
Louisville
Columbus

All of these are essentially the top cities in the U.S. that do not have an NFL team and all are unlikely to get NFL teams going forward. All of these cities would also have college or other local stadiums that are ready to be used (without having to use MLS stadiums).

You would also have some potential ready made rivalries like San Diego-Salt Lake City, Birmingham-Memphis, Orlando-Ft. Lauderdale and Louisville-Columbus.

Putting teams in cities where the NFL already has a team is just a setup for failure. Those teams will always be second fiddle to the local NFL team and by a long shot.