{"id":1311,"date":"2026-05-21T17:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1311"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:05:26","slug":"bianchi-billionaire-ufl-owner-mike-repole-gives-orlando-storm-fans-a-shout-out-and-jumps-on-citys-baseball-bandwagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1311","title":{"rendered":"Bianchi: Billionaire UFL owner Mike Repole gives Orlando Storm fans a shout-out and jumps on city\u2019s baseball bandwagon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mike Repole is starting to sound like one of the biggest believers in Orlando sports.<\/p>\n

Read more Halloween Horror Nights plans \u2018Sinners\u2019 haunted house for 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

And maybe \u2013 just maybe \u2013 Orlando sports fans should start believing a little more in one of his teams.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t been all that great in their inaugural UFL season, Repole pushed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I want to give Orlando fans a shout-out,\u201d Repole said on my radio show. \u201cThis 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\u2019m actually happy with the support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granted, the Storm aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s sunscreen in July.<\/p>\n

And yet, here we are again.<\/p>\n

Only this time, dare we say, it feels different.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Storm are not only alive and functioning; they are thriving. They\u2019re in first place in the UFL, clinched a playoff spot last week and have become one of the league\u2019s best stories heading into Friday night\u2019s regular-season home finale against the DC Defenders at Inter&Co Stadium.<\/p>\n

The truth is, the Storm have earned more support than they\u2019re currently getting.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That starts with Repole himself.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Which is why another thing he said this week was so interesting.<\/p>\n

Repole also confirmed that he supports the Orlando Dreamers\u2019 effort to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando and would be willing to invest in the project.<\/p>\n

Read more Geneva School, with 12 middle schoolers, reached FHSAA 1A softball final<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some discussions with the Dreamers,\u201d Repole confirmed. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m 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\u2019t really want to own a baseball team, but if it helps the city of Orlando, I\u2019m going to invest in the baseball team because I\u2019m investing in Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think about that for a moment.<\/p>\n

One of the country\u2019s most successful entrepreneurs \u2014 a billionaire who built brands like Vitaminwater and BodyArmor \u2014 is publicly tying himself not only to Orlando\u2019s current sports scene, but also to its future ambitions.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a pretty big deal.<\/p>\n

Because cities don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Repole clearly does.<\/p>\n

Now the question becomes whether Orlando sports fans will continue proving him right.<\/p>\n

If Orlando truly wants to be viewed as a major-league sports town \u2014 and a legitimate future MLB destination \u2014 then supporting winning teams like the Storm matters more than people realize.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t build a sports culture only when the Yankees or Dodgers come to town.<\/p>\n

You also build it on nights like Friday night.<\/p>\n

SHORT STUFF: My top three choices for the Orlando Magic\u2019s next head coach: (1) Billy Donovan (2) Jeff Van Gundy (3) Whoever Paolo Banchero wants. \u2026 Aaron Rodgers has announced that he will retire after the upcoming NFL season. Hey, I guess it\u2019s time to sell your ayahuasca stock. \u2026 At baseball ballparks all across the country, groups of men are joining in on the \u201cTarps Off\u201d 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\u2019d rather watch Uncle Al clip his toenails in the front row. \u2026 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.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2019t think this is going to have much impact. Why? Because in today\u2019s NIL era, most top football and basketball recruits aren\u2019t choosing schools based on black or white \u2014 they\u2019re choosing based on green. \u2026 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\u2019s players can understand what Coach O is telling them. \u2026 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\u2019t playing and betting on the team made \u201cme feel more connected to the game and my teammates and to give me more of a reason to root for my teammates.\u201d That\u2019s 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. \u2026<\/p>\n

LAST WORD: In honor of Memorial Day weekend, remember these words from an unknown patriot: \u201cOur flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my radio show \u201cGame On\u201d every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com\/listen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Ask a real estate pro: Should we walk away from buying home where inspection found issues?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UFL owner Mike Repole says he’s ready to invest money to help bring Major League Baseball to Orlando<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nBianchi: Billionaire UFL owner Mike Repole gives Orlando Storm fans a shout-out and jumps on city\u2019s baseball bandwagon - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bianchi: Billionaire UFL owner Mike Repole gives Orlando Storm fans a shout-out and jumps on city\u2019s baseball bandwagon - 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