Billionaire beverage mogul Mike Repole has acquired a majority stake in NOBULL, the footwear and apparel brand that has deals with the NFL combine, PGA Tour, and CrossFit Games.
NOBULL was valued at $500 million in 2021, but the company laid off 35% of its staff in May, with longtime CMO Todd Meleney also departing. Repole, the co-founder of BodyArmor and Vitaminwater, plans to grow NOBULL into “the next billion-dollar performance training brand,” according to an announcement.
Repole — whose Forbes net worth is $1.5 billion — will invest in NOBULL through his private equity firm Impact Capital. NOBULL was founded in 2015 by former Reebok executives Marcus Wilson and Michael Schaeffer, who will both remain with the company under Repole.
The NFL invested in NOBULL in December 2022 in a deal that also saw NOBULL become the presenting sponsor of the NFL combine. The Boston-based company, which employs about 100 people, is also the title sponsor of the CrossFit Games. New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel are NOBULL ambassadors.
Repole, who sold BodyArmor to Coca-Cola for $5.6 billion in 2021, said an IPO for NOBULL is a possibility.
“If we want to build this big multibillion platform … taking this public, I think is going to be the best way to go about it,” Repole said.
Repole also co-founded Glaceau, maker of Vitaminwater and Smartwater, which Coke bought for $4.1 billion in 2007.
