Was wondering if anyone was going to check out the Pro Padel League season opener at the Hammerstein Ballroom next week (July 9-12). Have a few guys taking the train from NJ into the city and would love to connect with other fans in the area. Ill be there only on Sunday for podium day, tickets are $75 general admission.
Link to original tweet: https://x.com/wbuxtonofficial/status/2064049522506866806
So the Defenders are playing in the United Bowl next Saturday in front of what looks to be a sell-out crowd. 50 Cent is also performing the halftime show and should be an absolute blast. I have 3 tickets I'm looking to gift to a first timer or someone who's fallen off the Defenders/UFL bandwagon. Spring football is awesome and hope it's here for many more years to come. No cost, but if you'd like to buy me an adult beverage to feed the beer snake (or a giant pretzel to curb my hunger) I won't protest.
Playoff football will be played tomorrow with the Orlando Storm taking on my favorite team, the DC Defenders. I'd like to gift 2 tickets to a first timer to tomorrow's game. 3pm kickoff at Daytona Stadium.
$10 general admission tickets can be had here.
https://am.ticketmaster.com/stormufl/buy/playoffs?camefrom=ORLPLDAYTONAWEB
The United Way partnership is having another BOGO promo. 2 tickets for as low as $22. Spread the word.
Courtesy of SBJ. Overall ratings slightly up from last year (624k vs. 622k). Important to note last year only had 1 game on FS1 and the lone ESPN2 game was bumped to ESPN proper. Additionally, a Memphis game was bumped to the ESPN app due to weather with ratings never published for that game. In comparison, this year there's 4 games on FS1, 2 on NFLN, and 2 on ESPN2. Despite the downgrade in network coverage the fact ratings are up, albeit ever so slightly, is a win for the league.
Mike Repole is starting to sound like one of the biggest believers in Orlando sports.
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.
“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.
Highest rated Fox broadcast of the season with nearly 900k viewers. I'm predicting Sundays game after the Indy 500 will be slightly higher than the 1.38M they notched last season
Battlehawks are on a roll and are honoring members of the 99 Rams at tonight's game. Martz, Fault, Prohel, Vermeil, Andy McCollum, Mike Jones and a few more will be there. Would love to donate 4 tickets to some first timers or someone on the fence about spring football. Reach out if interested.
I was supposed to fly into town for the UFL game tomorrow night but life got in the way. Have 4 tickets in the end zone I'd love to gift to a first timer. Feel free to DM if interested.
Was hoping to fly out for tomorrow nights big game against St Louis but life got in the way. Have 4 tickets I'll part with to a first timer who wants to check out spring football. All 4 are in the supporter section, feel free to DM if you're interested.