Rock On: Dwayne Johnson’s Team to Purchase the XFL
Written by Andrew Goldberg
The XFL appeared to be heading towards another season of futility. After an exciting season that captured the national spotlight and surpassed many expectations, the “extreme” football league was forced to close its doors alongside the rest of the sporting world when Covid-19 upended American life, putting its future in jeopardy. On Monday, however, an exciting new group of investors threw the league a lifeline.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, business partner Dany Garcia and others from Investment Firm Redbird Capital announced in a news release that they would be purchasing the XFL for roughly $15 million. The influx of cash is much needed for the XFL, which was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in April. Now with new ownership at the helm, the league has its sights set on resuming play as early as 2021.
“We’re planning for it,” said Garcia, who hinted that the league may attempt to adopt the same ‘bubble’ strategy as the NBA. “It’s been really interesting to see that, when you create a bubble, your players are safe. When you don’t, it’s chaos.”
Garcia and Johnson will have their hands full attempting to pick up the pieces of a league that has now twice gone under. In both previous iterations, first in 2001 and more recently in 2019, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was at the helm, committing over $200 million into the building the league’s foundation. With much of McMahon’s vision firmly in place, Johnson says it is now up to him to carry on the XFL legacy.
“With pride and gratitude for all that I’ve built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans and everyone involved for the love of football.”
Johnson has long had roots in organized sports, playing football for the University of Miami in the early 1990’s before moving onto to wrestle in McMahon’s WWE. He even addressed the crowd with a rousing pregame speech before the XFL’s inaugural game back in 2001. But now in a position of real power, it’ll be up to “The Rock” to cook up a winning formula for a league on thin ice. For us at HustleTV we love sports.