A Storm is rolling into Orlando — literally.

The United Football League announced Tuesday morning that one of its newest franchises will be called the Orlando Storm — one of three expansion teams set to debut in the spring of 2026.

The UFL, which recently completed its second season, is adding teams in Orlando, Columbus and Louisville as part of its latest round of expansion and restructuring. The Storm will play home games at Inter&Co Stadium, the 25,000-seat venue that is home to Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC.

The move brings professional spring football back to a Central Florida market that has seen its share of attempts to establish the sport over the years. From the Orlando Renegades of the 1980s to the Orlando Rage to the Orlando Tuskers to the Orlando Apollos to most recently the Orlando Guardians, each team has come and gone as previous leagues folded or rebranded.

League officials and investors hope this time will be different.

The league’s newest investor, billionaire Mike Repole, is playing a key role in its expansion. A New York native and a longtime Orlando resident, Repole became a co-owner of the UFL earlier this year and now oversees its business operations.

“This is a new era of the United Football League,” Repole said. “We were looking for cities that are big markets but don’t have a lot of professional sports, and that’s why we chose Orlando, Columbus and Louisville as our new franchises.”

Repole said the decision to play at a smaller soccer-style venue such as Inter&Co Stadium reflects a deliberate change in strategy.

“There have been football teams in Orlando before, but they have usually been at Camping World Stadium,” he said. “When you put 15,000 or 20,000 people in a big college or NFL stadium like Camping World, it looks empty — like a game being played during COVID. The whole vision here is to play spring football in smaller stadiums.”

Repole, who has become a donor and season-ticket holder at UCF since moving to the area, said he believes Orlando is an ideal location for the league’s future.  Orlando sits smack dab in the middle of a football-fanatical state.

“Orlando has the potential to be a great sports city,” Repole said. “We need to let people know that we are a lot bigger than just Disney World.”

The UFL’s announcement marks one of the biggest shakeups in the short history of the league, which was formed in 2024 following the merger of the XFL and USFL. The three new expansion teams will replace the Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers and San Antonio Brahmas, which competed in the league’s first two seasons.

In addition, two existing teams are being relocated and renamed. The Arlington Renegades will become the Dallas Renegades, moving into Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The Houston Roughnecks will be rebranded as the Houston Gamblers and play at Shell Energy Stadium.

Beginning in 2026, the league will also move away from its current two-conference system. All teams will compete in a single division, with the top four advancing to the playoffs.

Returning franchises also include the Birmingham Stallions, D.C. Defenders and St. Louis Battlehawks.

While excitement may be building around the UFL’s expansion, Orlando’s past with spring football offers a note of caution. The city has hosted multiple professional teams since the 1980s, each part of leagues that failed to survive.

The Orlando Renegades, coached by Lee Corso, played one season in the original United States Football League in 1985 before the league folded. The Orlando Rage of the first XFL lasted just one season in 2001. The Orlando Tuskers of the earlier UFL version operated from 2009 to 2010 before financial issues forced that league to shut down.

Most recently, the Orlando Guardians, in the second iteration of the XFL, struggled to win games and draw fans in 2023 and lasted only one season. Prior to the Guardians, the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football began play in 2019 under legendary coach Steve Spurrier and were leading the league when operations abruptly ceased midway through the season after the AAF declared bankruptcy.

Those repeated false starts have made fans cautious, but Repole and league officials believe this UFL has stronger financial backing and a more sustainable model.

The current UFL is majority-owned by Fox Sports, which holds a 50 percent stake. Other major investors include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his ex-wife Dany Garcia  — who also resides in Orlando — and private equity firms RedBird Capital and Impact Capital, which is Repole’s investment group.

League officials say those partnerships provide the funding and media exposure needed to succeed where past ventures have failed. The UFL has national television contracts with Fox Sports, ABC and ESPN, giving the league consistent visibility across major broadcast networks.

Repole said the goal certainly is not to compete directly with the NFL but to ride the popularity of the NFL and college football.

“We want to leverage this country’s love for football,” Repole said, “but this is more than just investment. I think the time is right for Orlando to have another professional sports team. I am an Orlando guy now. I  want to embrace this community and I want this community to embrace the Orlando Storm.”

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my new radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/07/orlando-storm-ufl-spring-football-expansion-franchise/