The United Soccer League is planning a collection of market modifications after including entrepreneur Mike Repole to its funding group and giving him full authority over its enterprise operations.
In an interview with ESPN, Repole mentioned the league will transfer at the least two of its residence markets and probably 4 in time for the 2026 season. One of many new markets can be Columbus, Ohio, the place the group will play in Decrease.com Discipline, residence of the MLS’ Columbus Crew. The league has not but finalized every other new markets, nor has it determined which markets it is going to depart. The variety of groups will stay at eight, Repole mentioned.
Repole made clear, nonetheless, that he prefers markets which have smaller stadiums than among the school amenities the UFL has performed in for the previous two years. Capability in Columbus can be round 21,000. He mentioned that “venue and attendance” are his high priorities in making a extra energetic notion of the league.
“The vibe hasn’t been to the place it must be,” he mentioned. “You’ll be able to hear a pin drop when somebody runs 80 yards. That is not so good. No one desires to activate the TV and see 10,000 followers in a 65,000-seat stadium. It is like watching a COVID recreation.”
The UFL has discovered attendance success in St. Louis, the place the Battlehawks have averaged almost 30,000 followers per recreation in The Dome at America’s Middle. However the the rest of the markets have averaged paid attendance between about 5,000 and 12,000. In 2024, just one group performed in a stadium with a capability lower than 20,000 — the D.C. Defenders at Audi Discipline. The opposite seven residence stadiums had capacities between 40,000 and 65,000.
Repole urged that an enchancment in game-day ambiance will elevate the league’s reputation. He mentioned that if he is not in a position to drive attendance to a median of 10,000 to fifteen,000 per recreation for every group, “I’ll take all of the blame on the market.”
Repole, who cofounded Vitaminwater, Smartwater and BodyArmor after which offered them to Coca-Cola, will be a part of an possession group that additionally contains RedBird Capital Companions, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, FOX and ESPN. He has laid out a daring imaginative and prescient for increasing to 10-12 groups inside the subsequent 5 years and to get to 16 groups — half the scale of the NFL — inside 10 years.
The panorama of spring soccer has been affected by failed leagues ever for the reason that AFL merged with the NFL in 1970. However in 2026, the UFL will grow to be one among two leagues to make it to a 3rd consecutive season, becoming a member of the unique USFL (1983-85).
“We’ll be aggressive so far as being nimble and scrappy and gritty and making aggressive strikes,” he mentioned. “If by 2035, if we won’t have 16 groups, I’ll think about it a private failure. That is it. Different leagues did not have the capital that this league has, did not have the media giants that this league has, did not have the entrepreneurs that this group has.”
The league has run from late March to early June in its two seasons, with a 10-game schedule every season.
Within the brief time period, the league’s eight groups will proceed to apply at one website, possible in Arlington, Texas. However Repole mentioned that can change within the coming years. Within the brief time period, it is attainable that groups will spend two or three days of their residence market round video games, slightly than one, to offer gamers and coaches extra publicity to the area people.
“You’ll be able to’t be an actual league in 5 years and have your D.C. group in Arlington,” he mentioned.