Mike Repole is starting to sound like one of the biggest believers in Orlando sports.
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And maybe – just maybe – Orlando sports fans should start believing a little more in one of his teams.
Earlier this week, when I suggested to the billionaire entrepreneur and co-owner of the eight-team United Football League that attendance at Orlando Storm games hasn’t been all that great in their inaugural UFL season, Repole pushed back.
“Actually, I want to give Orlando fans a shout-out,” Repole said on my radio show. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. For us to get 8,9 or 10,000 fans per game for a team that nobody really knows that much about, I’m actually happy with the support.”
Granted, the Storm aren’t exactly packing Inter&Co Stadium every week. The team is averaging about 9,600 fans per game, which in the grand scheme of professional sports sounds modest at best. But, as Repole points out, context matters.
This is a startup spring football team in a market that has seen more spring football failures than most cities have seen promises not to raise property taxes. Orlando fans have been burned before by the USFL, XFL, AAF and every other alphabet-soup league that arrived promising permanence before disappearing faster than a tourist’s sunscreen in July.
And yet, here we are again.
Only this time, dare we say, it feels different.
The Storm are not only alive and functioning; they are thriving. They’re in first place in the UFL, clinched a playoff spot last week and have become one of the league’s best stories heading into Friday night’s regular-season home finale against the DC Defenders at Inter&Co Stadium.
The truth is, the Storm have earned more support than they’re currently getting.
Winning matters. Effort matters. Commitment matters. And unlike many past spring football experiments, this organization actually appears serious about building something sustainable in Orlando rather than simply using the city as a temporary landing spot.
That starts with Repole himself.
Remember, this is not some absentee owner parachuting in for photo ops. Repole moved his family to Orlando years ago. He has invested in UCF athletics. He talks openly about wanting to help elevate Orlando into a true major-league sports city.
Which is why another thing he said this week was so interesting.
Repole also confirmed that he supports the Orlando Dreamers’ effort to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando and would be willing to invest in the project.
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“I’ve had some discussions with the Dreamers,” Repole confirmed. “You know, I’m not going to buy the (entire) baseball team, but whether I were to own 1 percent or 10 percent or 15 percent, I would definitely be interested in bringing baseball to town. I don’t really want to own a baseball team, but if it helps the city of Orlando, I’m going to invest in the baseball team because I’m investing in Orlando.”
Think about that for a moment.
One of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs — a billionaire who built brands like Vitaminwater and BodyArmor — is publicly tying himself not only to Orlando’s current sports scene, but also to its future ambitions.
That’s a pretty big deal.
Because cities don’t land major league franchises simply because they want them. They land them because influential people with money, vision and credibility believe in the market enough to invest.
Repole clearly does.
Now the question becomes whether Orlando sports fans will continue proving him right.
If Orlando truly wants to be viewed as a major-league sports town — and a legitimate future MLB destination — then supporting winning teams like the Storm matters more than people realize.
You don’t build a sports culture only when the Yankees or Dodgers come to town.
You also build it on nights like Friday night.
SHORT STUFF: My top three choices for the Orlando Magic’s next head coach: (1) Billy Donovan (2) Jeff Van Gundy (3) Whoever Paolo Banchero wants. … Aaron Rodgers has announced that he will retire after the upcoming NFL season. Hey, I guess it’s time to sell your ayahuasca stock. … At baseball ballparks all across the country, groups of men are joining in on the “Tarps Off” trend in which they take off their shirts and start twirling them above their heads. Ugh! Memo to all of you dudes with beer bellies and hairy backs: Nobody wants to see you take your shirts off. I’d rather watch Uncle Al clip his toenails in the front row. … Orlando City beat Atlanta United 4-1 earlier this week to secure a place in the semifinal of the U.S. Open Cup. The problem is that because of the World Cup break, the semifinal of the U.S. Open Cup will be held in mid-September, nearly four months from now. Translation: The semifinal is so far away, fans are already planning to tailgate at their retirement communities.” …
Did you see where the NAACP is calling on Black athletes to boycott Florida, Florida State, UCF and other public universities in southern states accused of restricting Black voting rights. Personally, I don’t think this is going to have much impact. Why? Because in today’s NIL era, most top football and basketball recruits aren’t choosing schools based on black or white — they’re choosing based on green. … Did you see where LSU has finalized a deal to bring back Ed Orgeron to its football coaching staff? No word yet on whether a translator has also been hired so LSU’s players can understand what Coach O is telling them. … New Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who is ruled ineligible after he admitted to betting on Indiana football while he was a member of the Hoosiers team a couple of years ago, has filed for an injunction against the NCAA, seeking his college eligibility for the 2026 college football season. Sorsby claims that the only reason he placed bets on the Hoosiers is because he wasn’t playing and betting on the team made “me feel more connected to the game and my teammates and to give me more of a reason to root for my teammates.” That’s interesting, because most players usually support their teammates by clapping from the sidelines instead of opening a FanDuel account. Most backup quarterbacks hold a clipboard, but Sorsby was apparently holding parlays. …
LAST WORD: In honor of Memorial Day weekend, remember these words from an unknown patriot: “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”
Email me at [email protected]. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen.
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