The United Football League (UFL) is a league on the cusp of collapse. With billionaire Mike Repole at the helm of a diverse ownership group, they’re set on raising the league’s profile and expanding the league to more teams. The UFL now has just eight teams. It now wants to grow its roster to 16 teams by 2035, with an ambitious hope of adding 10-12 new teams in the next five years.
Having previously co-founded other beverage blockbusters like Vitaminwater, Smartwater and BodyArmor, Repole undoubtedly knew this. Now, he’s determined to go further, to put in place a comprehensive playbook for dramatically increasing attendance numbers. He’s counting on an average turnout of at least 10,000 to 15,000 fans per game for all four teams. The very ambitious owner is hellbent on meeting that attendance goal. If they don’t meet the goals, he will be the first to resign over their failure.
“I’m going to take all the blame out there,” – Mike Repole
As for the UFL teams, they will be sequestered to one practice location, most likely in Arlington, Texas. This one-stop practice site provides easy and efficient training and collaboration between all of the teams. Repole understands just how significant that challenge is. Limiting their time home to just two or three days in their home markets around game time dilutes their connection to local fans.
“You can’t be a real league in five years and have your D.C. team in Arlington,” he stated, emphasizing the importance of establishing a true presence in each team’s home market.
Second only to its recent flagship, Florida, Columbus Ohio was earmarked as the UFL business plan’s low-hanging fruit market. A third team in Columbus will be playing at Historic Crew Stadium, which holds just over 21,000 for soccer. Columbus being added to the Repole equation is a huge step in continuing along with Repole’s plan to make the league environment brighter.
“The vibe hasn’t been to where it should be,” – Mike Repole
Repole heads an ownership group looking to land these initiatives in their town. This lineup includes high-profile investors including RedBird Capital Partners, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia alongside media heavyweights FOX and ESPN among primary partners. This combined wealth of resources and expertise further aligns the UFL for aggressive growth and increased visibility.
Repole’s vision is much bigger. He wants to increase the size of the field. Equally important are his goals for developing a committed, passionate fan base in each market. He believes that achieving an average attendance of 10,000 to 15,000 per game will solidify the UFL’s status as a legitimate professional league.
I think we’re going to remain kind of aggressive in the sense of being nimble and scrappy and gritty and making aggressive moves, he explained. This collaborative approach is indicative of Repole’s larger, long-term vision of making the UFL a legitimate competitor to the established American football powers.
Though the UFL presently plays with eight franchises, Repole’s dreams run deeper than simple expansion. He has provided an unambiguous timeline for success. He argues that if he’s still got only 12 teams by 2035, that’d be a personal failure for him.
The UFL aims to carve out a niche that is half the size of the National Football League (NFL) within the next decade. Though the imprint is vast, Repole and his team are focusing on a few specific markets. They’re trying to increase perception attendance numbers and bring the league into a new era.
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