LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Mike Repole took the mic like he’d taken a double espresso and a dare. He didn’t just talk, he filibustered, fast-talked, and filleted half the room.
By the time he was done, he’d thrown shade at the Jets, claimed ownership of both Lexington and Louisville, and reminded us that despite 10 entries, he’s never won the Kentucky Derby.
No matter. On Tuesday, as UFL co-owner and leader of its business operations, Repole got to the starting gate with an entry even the state vets can’t touch.
The Louisville Kings — the UFL’s newest franchise — are what happens when you mix spring football, marketing bravado and civic optimism, then marinate it in the limestone air of a bourbon-soaked city. It's pro football meets Derby decadence.
As Repole put it, “I’ve been scratched from the Derby three times … but I keep coming back. That’s how much I love this city.”
The UFL is a league with ambition. But on this day, it was less about structure than storytelling. You had Repole riffing on Rick Pitino, Tom Brady, and ChatGPT. You had league CEO (and former Buffalo Bills CEO) Russ Brandon and Eric Wood reliving a Bills draft call that now reads like prophecy. You had Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg already color-coordinating his closet around a football team that doesn’t yet have a quarterback.
And you had Repole stirring the drink, as he often does, playing all the angles, right down to the team’s green color scheme.
“I stayed away from blue and I stayed away from red,” he said. “So I kind of did that strategically, by the way, and went there. So, you know, just amazing, what this city means to me.”
“It’s Arena Football — outdoors.”
That’s how Repole described the league’s vision: pack soccer-sized venues with fans hungry for something between March Madness and training camp. If you can’t beat the NFL, go where it won’t, and make it feel like a Super Bowl on a smaller scale. Five home games. Tailgates. Bar crawls. Local players. No nosebleeds. No filler.
“If the Jets can sell out,” he said, “football’s an easy sell.”
He’s not wrong. Louisville fills stadiums for college football and gymnasiums for volleyball. It tips better when it’s in the mood, and you get the sense Repole wants to make the Kings both a football team and a mood.
The guy from Queens made it clear: this is personal. He’s got the money, the ambition, and just enough irrational belief to give the UFL the one thing spring football always lacks — staying power. Anyone who knows him, who has watched him come back to the Kentucky Derby despite one confounding heartbreak after another, knows he’s in it to win.
“If this isn’t a 16-team league in 10 years, it’s on me,” he said.
Local flavor, national vision
Eric Wood, the former Louisville center and Buffalo Bills player and announcer, called the opportunity “a no-brainer.” He’s not just the public face, he’s the pulse. And if Repole gets his way, half the Kings roster will have Kentucky zip codes.
The playbook is clear:
- Let the fans see themselves on the field.
- Let the players see themselves on NFL tape.
- Let the community feel like it matters.
You don’t need 80,000 people and a TV deal to build something meaningful. You need belief, access, and a guy like Repole dropping quotes like confetti:
“I wanted to be here so bad I built a football team.”
It’s unclear how many games the Kings will win. But this much is already true: they won the press conference. And in sports, that’s the first game every expansion team plays.
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