LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Mike Repole isn't coming to Louisville to take a bow. He's coming to take notes.
The co-owner of the United Football League and its Louisville Kings franchise will attend his first game Friday night at Lynn Family Stadium, finally seeing in person what he's spent months selling from afar. And if Repole's track record in business — and in sports — says anything, it's this: He won't be watching passively.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
"I'm a brand builder," Repole said Thursday in an interview with WDRB's Haley Schoengart. "This is about building a sustainable spring football league."
Which means Louisville isn't just a stop on the schedule. It's a test case.
Repole missed the Kings' home opener, opting instead to watch his beloved St. John's in the NCAA Tournament. But he saw enough from afar — a sellout crowd, a fan base willing to brave cold weather — to reinforce what he believed when he brought the team here.
"I always felt this would be a great market," he said. Now he gets to see it up close and measure it, not just the attendance, but the energy, the engagement, the feel.
Early returns across the league have been encouraging — roughly 10,000 to 15,000 fans in new markets like Louisville, Orlando and Columbus — but Repole isn't in this for opening-week optics. He's in it for what comes next.
Two weeks in, Repole did something most leagues wait months — or years — to do. He asked the fans what they thought. The response: more than 100,000 views and hundreds of comments across social platforms, offering everything from praise to pointed criticism. Repole welcomed it.
"I love criticism," he said. And more importantly, he's acting on it.
The most immediate change is also the most visible: price. Tickets for Kings games can start at $10, and, in some cases, dip even lower through promotions.
"You can't get to a movie for $10, never mind five," Repole said. It's intentional. Repole isn't trying to position the UFL as a premium product — not yet. He's trying to make it accessible, easy to try, easy to return to. In a city that has long shown up for college sports but lacks an NFL franchise, the strategy is simple: get people in the building and let the experience do the rest.
Louisville wasn't a blind swing. Repole's connection to the city runs through Churchill Downs, where he's spent nearly two decades chasing the Kentucky Derby. He knows the audience, the appetite, and what the city can look like when it decides to embrace something.
"You knew they would come out in droves," he said of Kentucky fans. The early turnout, even in less-than-ideal conditions — hasn't changed that belief.
Repole isn't naïve about what he's trying to build. Spring football leagues don't exactly come with long track records of success. But uncertainty isn't something he avoids — it's something he leans into.
"If something has a 99% chance, it doesn't pique my interest," he said. "When you tell me something has a 1% chance, I get very excited." That mindset has defined much of his time in horse racing, and it's followed him into football.
If Repole sounds comfortable riding out volatility, it's because he's done it before. He's brought multiple favorites to the Kentucky Derby and had three of them scratched within 24 hours of the race — a kind of heartbreak that doesn't fade quickly. And yet, he keeps coming back. This year, he returns again with another favorite, Renegade.
Which, in its own way, mirrors what he's trying to build with the UFL. Put yourself in position. And keep showing up.
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