XFL Take Three; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Buys League for $15 Million

In one of those spur-of-the-moment, fun weekend purchases, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson purchased the entire XFL on Sunday. The unsuccessful but hard to kill league was due to enter an auction phase on Monday after it had declared bankruptcy earlier in the year, following lackluster interest from the general public during the league’s second season in the last 20 years and the forced postponment of that season after just five weeks due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

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When the 2001 version of the XFL launched, it was sold as an over-sexed, over-violent version of “real football.” It lasted one year. The 2020 version was supposed to be a more straightforward league, losing the elements of professional wrestling entertainment that founder Vince McMahon brought to the original product. The goal of producing quality football on the field fell far short, however, as games were sloppy and generally uninteresting over the first few weeks of the season. It turns out you actually need football talent to turn out a football league.

Hours before the league was to hit the auction block, The Rock and his investment team, including his ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital closed the deal to purchase the rights to the league for $15 million. The deal is still pending approval in bankruptcy court on Friday, but can you really imagine anyone denying The Rock anything that he wants? In addition to being 6-foot-5, 270 pounds of solid muscle, the man is just the most charming charismatic person on the planet. How could you deny him?

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The timetable for restarting the league is very much up in the air. The logistics of unwinding the posted $10 to $50 million in debt and waiting out the COVID-19 crisis are two major initial obstacles, as will likely be the founding of new league franchises and the creation of rosters. The XFL wasn’t something I particularly cared about or was invested in the success of, but with this move I legitimately want to see it succeed and I think this group could pull it off. Before his career as a pro wrestler and the biggest name in entertainment, The Rock played football for the University of Miami and has long maintained an enduring love for the sport.

In a statement about the purchase, The Rock said “The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things – my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans. 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.”

According to ESPN, since the league filed for bankruptcy in April, executives have been shopped as a ready-made product, something that could easily transition to a bubble setup to start play during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be interesting to see how rapidly the league begins to come together, assuming the sale goes through, and what format that might take. If the NFL is unable to make it all the way back, there could be a gigantic opportunity for the smaller, more nimble XFL to briefly fill the football void for fans. Then again …

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