UFL co-owner Mike Repole wants to take the league from eight teams to 32. He said so in an interview with Sports Business Journal's Ben Fischer, published days before the 2026 season kicks off on March 27.
The 32-team target is an expansion of Repole's original goal. When he joined the ownership group last July, he set a target of 16 teams by 2035. That number has now doubled.
Repole also told Fischer he wants his apparel company NoBull to surpass Nike. That gives you a sense of how the man thinks.
Who Is Mike Repole?
Repole is a 57-year-old entrepreneur from Queens, New York. Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.5 billion. He made his money by building consumer brands and selling them to Coca-Cola — first Vitaminwater for $4.1 billion in 2007, then BodyArmor for $5.6 billion in 2021.
His investment firm, Impact Capital, acquired a minority stake in the UFL in 2025 along with control of business operations. Despite holding a minority position, the other owners — Fox Sports, RedBird Capital Partners, ESPN, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia — gave him authority to run day-to-day operations.
"Make no mistake, Mike is leading the charge," UFL CEO Russ Brandon told Fischer. "There's no one within my executive team, or within the organization, with any doubt who's leading the operation, and it's Mike Repole."
What Has He Done So Far?
Repole moved fast after coming on board. He relocated three franchises last summer — Memphis, San Antonio and Michigan became Columbus, Louisville and Orlando. He changed six of eight venues, pushing the league into smaller stadiums to create a better atmosphere for fans and TV cameras.
His logic was simple: too many empty seats made the product look bad on television. Brandon told Fischer he would have given that many venue changes a 5% chance of happening before Repole got involved.
Repole also put the NoBull logo on new team uniforms and named the Louisville Kings with a horse logo — a nod to his thoroughbred racing operation, Repole Stable, which has more than 300 horses and $61 million in lifetime earnings.
The Louisville Kings' April 30 home game at Lynn Family Stadium falls one day before the Kentucky Oaks, where Repole has a contender in the horse Zany. Two days after that, his horse Renegade runs in the Kentucky Derby. That cross-promotion is not a coincidence.
The Noise Strategy
Repole has taken a direct approach with fans. When Birmingham Stallions supporters complained about new uniforms, he responded on X by telling them to buy season tickets and protest at the stadium.
"What do I have to lose, right?" Repole told Fischer. "No one's ever engaged with the fan base. And I guarantee no owner in [expletive] history is doing what I'm doing right now."
The strategy is about attention. The UFL's problem is not football quality or broadcast distribution. It is relevance. Not enough people know or care about the league. Repole believes noise — even negative noise — is better than silence.
"We've got to get some noise. We've got to be the squeaky wheel," Repole said.
Fan reaction on Reddit was mixed. One user said Repole came across poorly but credited him with generating more offseason activity than spring football has ever seen. Another said having an owner who says things on occasion beats past leadership that appeared not to care about the league at all.
The Numbers He Needs to Beat
The UFL averaged 645,000 viewers per game in 2025, down 20% from its first season. Attendance averaged 12,162, down 5%. Both numbers need to go up in 2026 for the league to show investors the trajectory is moving in the right direction.
Orlando's chief venues officer, Allen Johnson, told Fischer that getting 10,000 fans through the gates on a regular basis would count as a success. He also said the league needs to target families with kid-friendly game times and promotions.
The Ownership Group
Repole sits on the UFL board alongside Fox Sports, RedBird Capital, Disney, Johnson and Garcia. Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks and ESPN's Burke Magnus handle media strategy. RedBird's Kevin LaForce and Brandon lead the NFL relationship. Garcia and Johnson oversee social and digital content. RedBird's Gerry Cardinale and Shanks manage the overall enterprise.
The board approves major decisions — markets, venues, team names and football rules. But Repole's Impact Capital has a separate operating agreement to manage the business, giving him wide latitude on branding, marketing and market-level engagement.
Former Fox Sports EVP Larry Jones, who still sits on the UFL board, told Fischer the league needed someone willing to get out into cities and build relationships with local officials and fans.
"We could get money from a lot of people, but we couldn't get this type of expertise, this enthusiasm and willingness to be out there," Jones said.
The Tom Brady Connection
Repole and Tom Brady first connected on a phone call in 2021 that lasted nearly three hours. In 2024, NoBull acquired Brady's TB12 wellness brand. They remain business partners.
"He's got the most incredible way about him in terms of his communication, in the way he gets his point across," Brady told Fischer. "Our personalities fit perfectly together."
Brady's advice for Repole: learn to shut it off sometimes.
What's at Stake in 2026
If the UFL completes its third season, it will become the first non-NFL, 11-man pro football league to play three consecutive seasons since the original USFL did in 1985. That is the baseline.
The bigger question is whether Repole's approach — smaller venues, market engagement, constant promotion and a willingness to generate attention by any means — can reverse the decline in viewership and attendance.
"I want to win the Triple Crown," Repole told Fischer. "I want NoBull to be bigger than Nike. I want the UFL to have 32 teams. That's what I want to do."
The season opens Friday, March 27 when the Louisville Kings host the Birmingham Stallions at Lynn Family Stadium. Eight teams will play a 10-game schedule, with the championship on ABC.