The spring league is not getting people to buy tickets to games.
The United Football League is finishing up its regular season and in terms of attendance and TV ratings, the league is a work in progress. Attendance has been, for the most part, dismal and there seems to be a small and loyal audience for the games on TV. But that is not dissuading the league’s chief investor Mike Repole from talking about a bright future for the league. The UFL apparently will survive into 2027 and beyond. There is an expansion team slated to begin play in 2028 in Oklahoma City. There is a collective bargaining agreement with the players. There are just not enough people filling seats in the Dallas market or in the Houston market or in the Orlando market or in the Birmingham market.
Repole did raise some eyebrows when he appeared on Mike Bianchi’s Game On radio show in Orlando by saying he would rather go bankrupt then fail. It would seem going bankrupt is failing. “I’d rather go bankrupt than fail at this league,” Repole said. “So now I got two choices, either make the league work or go bankrupt and maybe ask you for a job.” Repole is a billionaire, he won’t need a radio job. But he does realize that spring football has been an idea for decades, even before the United States Football League which lasted three springs between 1983 and 1985. “It’s been around for 40 years, but it’s never made it,” Repole said. “So when something’s around for 40 years and never made it, it means that there’s something there and people keep trying. I’ve only been doing this for nine months. I’m learning how to be an owner of a league.” The UFL is a minor league and will never be anything more than that. Spring football has too much sports competition and has never found a niche. Repole is trying to change that.
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