sports
Who Owns the UFL? FOX, RedBird and ESPN Back It, Mike Repole Runs It
In brief
The UFL is privately owned by a media-and-investor group, not by the NFL.
The United Football League is backed by Mike Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, ESPN, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson, according to the league’s own current ownership language on its official site theufl.com. For the site’s 2025 ownership reference year, the important update is that Repole joined the ownership group in July 2025 and, through Impact Capital, was given the lead role in business operations theufl.com.
The clean answer: FOX and RedBird remain core owners, but day-to-day business control now sits heavily with Mike Repole and Impact Capital.
Who owns the UFL today?
The UFL is owned by a private ownership coalition rather than a public company with a disclosed share register. The league lists Mike Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and ESPN as its current backers theufl.com. That means there is no public cap table showing exact ownership percentages for every party. The most reliable conclusion is therefore structural: the UFL is a privately held spring football league controlled by its investor and media-owner group, with business operations led by Repole through Impact Capital after his July 2025 entry theufl.com.
| Role | Who sits behind it | What is public |
|---|---|---|
| Current ownership group | Mike Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, ESPN, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson | Named by the UFL in its official ownership language theufl.com |
| Business lead | Mike Repole through Impact Capital | The league says Repole leads business operations theufl.com |
| Media backbone | FOX, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1 | The UFL’s 2025 season was carried across those networks theufl.com |
| Public share data | Not disclosed in full | FOX discloses an investment in the UFL, but not a full UFL cap table, in its 2024 Form 10-K foxcorporation.com |
How the UFL was built from the XFL and USFL
The UFL was created by combining two separate spring football projects: the XFL and the USFL. The merger was announced at the end of 2023, with the new United Football League beginning play in 2024 reuters.com. The XFL side came from the ownership group led by Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners. That group had been selected in 2020 as the winning bidder for substantially all assets of Alpha Entertainment, the XFL’s parent company, in a transaction valued at about $15 million globenewswire.com.
The USFL side had a different origin. In 2021, FOX Sports announced that it would be the official broadcast partner for the relaunched USFL and that FOX Sports owned a minority equity stake in the company that owned the league foxcorporation.com. By early 2025, FOX Sports described the UFL as being owned by FOX Sports, RedBird Capital Partners, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson, with FOX Sports owning half of the league and the other half shared by the other three parties foxsports.com. That was the old, pre-Repole snapshot.
The next ownership shift came on July 31, 2025, when the UFL announced that Mike Repole was joining the ownership group. The announcement named RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, ESPN, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson as the existing coalition and said Repole, through Impact Capital, would lead the league’s business operations theufl.com. That changed the practical control story even if the exact ownership percentages remained private.
The UFL is less a traditional franchise league than a privately held media-and-operations platform for spring football.
The UFL’s corporate structure
The UFL’s structure has three layers: the league entity, the beneficial owners behind the entity, and the operating roles that decide how the product is built. The league’s current official materials identify the ownership coalition, while the copyright footer on UFL pages identifies “UFL Enterprises LLC” as the rights holder for official site materials theufl.com. That footer should not be read as a full ownership register. It is better understood as a visible legal operating name around league media and brand assets.
Beneficial ownership is clearer than legal detail. RedBird is the private investment firm that helped buy the XFL and remains an identified UFL backer redbirdcap.com. FOX is both a media company and a UFL investor, with its 2024 Form 10-K referring to its investment in the United Football League and the deconsolidation of the old USFL foxcorporation.com. ESPN is named by the UFL as part of the backing group and is also a distribution partner through ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 platforms theufl.com.
Legal and beneficial ownership
Legal layer: The UFL is private, and a full public cap table is not available. Public league pages identify UFL Enterprises LLC in site rights language, while official ownership language names the investor and media backers theufl.com.
Operator and voting control
Operating layer: Russ Brandon is the league’s President and CEO, while Mike Repole leads business operations through Impact Capital after joining as an owner in July 2025 theufl.com.
UFL money and control
The UFL’s economics are built around media distribution, live attendance, sponsorship, team operations and player development. The league is not public, so it does not publish revenue, profit, team-level financial statements or owner distributions. What is public is the media scaffolding. For the 2025 season, the UFL said FOX, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and ESPN Deportes would present all 43 games, with ESPN carrying 22 games and FOX Sports carrying 21 across FOX and FS1 theufl.com.
Control is therefore not only about equity. It is also about distribution. FOX helped build the USFL side of the merger, owns UFL equity, and gives the league broadcast reach. ESPN is named as a current backer by the league and provides ABC and ESPN distribution. RedBird provides sports-investment capital and deal architecture. Garcia and Johnson bring the XFL continuity and celebrity-business platform. Repole, who built Vitaminwater and BodyArmor before entering the UFL, now holds the clearest publicly described operating mandate because the league says he leads business operations through Impact Capital theufl.com.
| Control point | Main party | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Equity ownership | Private ownership coalition | The league names its owners but does not disclose a full public percentage breakdown theufl.com |
| Business operations | Mike Repole and Impact Capital | Repole was assigned the lead business role when he joined the ownership group theufl.com |
| Broadcast distribution | FOX and ESPN platforms | All 43 games in the 2025 season were scheduled across FOX, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1 platforms theufl.com |
| Market strategy | Repole-led UFL business group | The UFL’s 2026 market reset added Columbus, Louisville and Orlando and moved two teams into new venues theufl.com |
What UFL ownership means for fans, players and media partners
For fans, the ownership model means the UFL is managed more like a central league product than a collection of separate local franchises. The league’s 2026 reset shows that clearly: the UFL added the Columbus Aviators, Louisville Kings and Orlando Storm, rebranded Arlington as the Dallas Renegades, rebranded Houston as the Houston Gamblers, and moved the league into a single eight-team structure with the top four teams reaching the playoffs theufl.com. Those are league-level decisions, not ordinary local-owner decisions.
For players, the model gives the UFL a clearer role as a spring showcase and development platform. FOX Sports reported in 2025 that more than 250 of the prior season’s 400 UFL players were called to NFL workouts and 78 signed contracts to attend NFL training camps foxsports.com. That does not make the UFL an NFL-owned league. It means the business case depends partly on being visible, credible and useful inside the wider football labor market.
For media partners, the UFL is a relatively low-inventory way to place live football outside the NFL and college seasons. The UFL’s 2025 schedule leaned heavily on broadcast windows, with the league saying 74% of games would air on ABC or FOX theufl.com. That explains why ownership and broadcast control are intertwined. The UFL’s owners are not just funding teams; they are shaping programming, venues, markets and the football product itself.
Frequently asked questions
Does FOX own the UFL?
FOX is one of the UFL’s core owners. FOX Sports described the 2025 ownership as FOX owning half of the league before Mike Repole joined later in 2025 foxsports.com. After Repole’s entry, the UFL’s current ownership language lists FOX alongside Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird, ESPN, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson theufl.com.
Is the UFL owned by the NFL?
No. The UFL’s official ownership materials name private investors and media partners, not the NFL theufl.com. The league can still serve as a player-development path because UFL players receive NFL workouts and camp opportunities, but that is different from NFL ownership foxsports.com.
Does Dwayne Johnson still own part of the UFL?
Yes. Dwayne Johnson is still named by the UFL as part of the current backing group theufl.com. Johnson entered the spring football business through the 2020 XFL acquisition with Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners globenewswire.com.
What changed when Mike Repole joined?
Repole became part of the ownership group in July 2025, and the UFL said he would lead business operations through Impact Capital theufl.com. The practical effect was visible in the 2026 market reset, when the league added three new teams, rebranded two others and moved toward smaller venue strategy theufl.com.
Are UFL teams individually owned?
Public UFL materials present the teams as part of one central league platform rather than as separately disclosed local franchises. The league itself announced the 2026 team additions, rebrands, venue changes and playoff structure theufl.com. No public team-by-team ownership register is disclosed.
Key takeaways
The bottom line
- The UFL is privately owned by a coalition led by media companies, private investors and sports-entertainment operators.
- The current named backers are Mike Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, ESPN, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson.
- FOX was described as owning half of the league in a 2025 snapshot, but Repole’s July 2025 investment changed the practical control picture.
- Mike Repole, through Impact Capital, has the clearest public mandate over business operations and market strategy.
- The UFL is not NFL-owned; it is a private spring football league built around broadcast distribution, league-run operations and player visibility.
Final word
The UFL’s ownership is best understood as a partnership between capital, media access and operating talent. FOX and ESPN give the league distribution. RedBird, Garcia and Johnson brought the XFL side into the merger. Repole and Impact Capital now carry the most visible operating mandate. That combination does not guarantee spring football will work, but it gives the UFL something most rival leagues lacked: aligned owners with both money and broadcast windows.