How billionaire Mike Repole plans to change the vibe of the UFL, expand it to 16 teams

The United Football League is readying a bid of marketplace changes aft adding entrepreneur Mike Repole to its concern radical and giving him afloat authorization implicit its concern operations.

In an interrogation with ESPN, Repole said the league volition determination astatine slightest 2 of its location markets and perchance 4 successful clip for the 2026 season. One of the caller markets volition beryllium Columbus, Ohio, wherever the squad volition play successful Lower.com Field, location of the MLS' Columbus Crew. The league has not yet finalized immoderate different caller markets, nor has it decided which markets it volition leave. The fig of teams volition stay astatine eight, Repole said.

Repole made clear, however, that helium prefers markets that person smaller stadiums than immoderate of the assemblage facilities the UFL has played successful for the past 2 years. Capacity successful Columbus volition beryllium astir 21,000. He said that "venue and attendance" are his apical priorities successful creating a much lively cognition of the league.

"The vibe hasn't been to wherever it should be," helium said. "You tin perceive a pin driblet erstwhile idiosyncratic runs 80 yards. That's not truthful good. Nobody wants to crook connected the TV and spot 10,000 fans successful a 65,000-seat stadium. It's similar watching a COVID game."

The UFL has recovered attendance occurrence successful St. Louis, wherever the Battlehawks person averaged astir 30,000 fans per crippled successful The Dome astatine America's Center. But the remainder of the markets person averaged paid attendance betwixt astir 5,000 and 12,000. In 2024, lone 1 squad played successful a stadium with a capableness little than 20,000 -- the D.C. Defenders astatine Audi Field. The different 7 location stadiums had capacities betwixt 40,000 and 65,000.

Repole suggested that an betterment successful game-day ambiance volition elevate the league's popularity. He said that if helium isn't capable to thrust attendance to an mean of 10,000 to 15,000 per crippled for each team, "I'm going to instrumentality each the blasted retired there."

Repole, who cofounded Vitaminwater, Smartwater and BodyArmor and past sold them to Coca-Cola, volition articulation an ownership radical that besides includes RedBird Capital Partners, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dany Garcia, FOX and ESPN. He has laid retired a bold imaginativeness for expanding to 10-12 teams wrong the adjacent 5 years and to get to 16 teams -- fractional the size of the NFL -- wrong 10 years.

The scenery of outpouring shot has been littered with failed leagues ever since the AFL merged with the NFL successful 1970. But successful 2026, the UFL volition go 1 of 2 leagues to marque it to a 3rd consecutive season, joining the archetypal USFL (1983-85).

"We're going to beryllium assertive arsenic acold arsenic being nimble and scrappy and gritty and making assertive moves," helium said. "If by 2035, if we can't person 16 teams, I'm going to see it a idiosyncratic failure. This is it. Other leagues didn't person the superior that this league has, didn't person the media giants that this league has, didn't person the entrepreneurs that this squad has."

The league has tally from precocious March to aboriginal June successful its 2 seasons, with a 10-game docket each season.

In the abbreviated term, the league's 8 teams volition proceed to signifier astatine 1 site, apt successful Arlington, Texas. But Repole said that volition alteration successful the coming years. In the abbreviated term, it's imaginable that teams volition walk 2 oregon 3 days successful their location marketplace astir games, alternatively than one, to springiness players and coaches much vulnerability to the section community.

"You can't beryllium a existent league successful 5 years and person your D.C. squad successful Arlington," helium said.