The Omaha Nighthawks won its first game in a sold-out Rosenblatt stadium on Friday night.

The Nighthawks are the first team of the United Football League, UFL, to sell out a game, thanks to the enthusiastic football fans in Nebraska.

The UFL has been in the works for 10 years, and the league was finally launched in 2009 with four teams. It was developed to allow more players to play at a professional level in “underserved areas,” with ticket prices that average around $20 per game.

The original four teams became rooted in their second season. The California Redwoods became the Sacramento Mountain Lions. The New York Sentinels became the Hartford, Conn., Colonials. The Florida Tuskers rooted in Orlando, and the Las Vegas Locomotives stayed where they were.

The Nighthawks are new to the league this year, as the UFL continues to grow. Locals welcomed the much-desired professional team. Thousands of season tickets were sold immediately after going on sale.

There are many former NFL players that were drafted to Omaha’s team. The most talked about one is running back Ahman Green, an Omaha native who once played for the Huskers.

On Friday, the stadium buzzed with excitement. Fans arrived several hours before the game started to enjoy the atmosphere with friends and family.

“I was parked right by the players’ cars. I got to see Jeff Garcia walk in with his family,” Alex Fisher, 27, said.

The stairwells were flooded with people trying to reach their seats, and people cheered enthusiastically when the team was introduced.

The Nighthawks were trailing behind the Hartford Colonials during the halftime performance of Nelly, and continued to lag behind in the third quarter. Several fans became discouraged and left.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks caught up to Colonials tying the game at 26-26 with only a few seconds left on the clock. The crowd was shouting with eagerness. Then the Nighthawks kicked the extra point and won the game, which caused even more uproar. Fans high-fived everyone around them, whether they knew each other or not.

“That was my favorite part, when we came back and won the game with 6 seconds left,” Deric Taylor, 19, said.

Some people may think that Jeff Garcia and Ahman Green might be too old to keep playing, but Fisher said the opposite.

“That veteran leadership is why we won. They [Colonials] had almost 70 yards in penalties an we had only 10,” he said.

The crowd filed out of the stadium smiling. They were happy to have their new football team.

“I think people came to see Nelly, but are leaving as Nighthawk fans,”said Richard Petersen, 24.