How did Louisville Kings come to be? Inside the UFL expansion decision

Yahoo Sports4h ago11 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

The UFL has expanded to Louisville, introducing the Kings football team after evaluating market potential. The expansion was announced in October 2024, with Chris Redman as the inaugural head coach.

Key points

UFL evaluated team markets after its first season
Louisville was chosen for expansion due to strong sports culture
Chris Redman appointed as inaugural head coach
Kings started season 0-3 before winning first game
Expansion aims to strengthen Louisville's sports market

Mentioned in this story

Chris RedmanLouisville

Louisville KingsUFLHouston Gamblers

The UFL needed a change.

Following its first completed season, the league began evaluating its teams’ markets to see which made sense to keep and relocate.

That led to the UFL releasing a request for proposal (RFP) on Nov. 24, 2024, citing a desire for cities with “fan interest and existing sports culture, geography and population and venue and infrastructure availability,” according to the press release. Having checked all those boxes, Louisville became the perfect city for the UFL’s expansion, paving the way for the Kings football team. The expansion was announced in October and Chris Redman was hired as the team's inaugural head coach two months later.

Green-and-black-painted faces, men cosplaying as royalty and a variety of Kings paraphernalia could be spotted in abundance during the team’s first two home games at Lynn Family Stadium. Though the on-field results were slow to arrive — the Kings started their inaugural season 0-3 before defeating the Houston Gamblers in overtime Thursday — the expected, immediate buy-in has proven the UFL correct. But longevity is key as Louisville looks to become a more widely recognized mid-major sports market.