During the turn of the
millennium, Vince McMahon of the then-WWF (now WWE) forged a partnership with
NBC to develop a professional football league where all component teams were
owned under its single entity. Following a late October 2000 draft, this
league, known only as the XFL, would launch on February the following year.
Despite epic viewer ratings in the start, interest dwindled and XFL would close
after its inaugural season. McMahon would try to revive the league; work
restarted in 2018 for a 2020 re-launch. Then COVID-19 scuttled those plans,
forcing the would-have-been new XFL to declare bankruptcy after only several
games. But it is not entirely ruined yet.
According to Comic Book Resources, none other than Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson
– aka WWE superstar The Rock – has purchased the bankrupt second iteration of
the ill-fated American football league XFL from twice-frustrated founder Vince
McMahon. Johnson partnered with his ex-wife Dany Garcia of The Garcia Company
(TGC) and Redbird Capital of Gerry Cardinale to buy XFL for $15 million. This
occurred just as the league was to be auctioned off to a potential new
ownership.
XFL’s parent company Alpha Entertainment
issued a statement on the sale, which must still be approved by the US
bankruptcy court at a hearing scheduled for Friday, August 7. If successful,
then the transaction with Johnson and his associates could be finalized before
August 21. Johnson also had something to say about his purchase of the XFL,
which he reasoned to have done out of love for the game (having played college football
for Miami) and a promise to take care of the sport’s 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," declares
The Rock.
Vince McMahon’s idea for the XFL
in both versions was that this pro league would play in the spring (where the NFL
regular season starts September). XFL rules as distinct from the mainstream NFL
also espoused a more aggressive form of football play, while TV broadcasts
utilized later NFL-adopted tech such as aerial sky-cam and microphones on
player helmets. Unfortunately the forced pro-wrestling elements in the original
XFL led to gradual disinterest in the otherwise legit unscripted games. The
second XFL was more NFL in presentation (different rules aside) but had the
misfortune of starting when the COVID pandemic erupted.
The second XFL only managed five
weeks of games before calling off the season in March 12, with operations being
suspended the following month, April 10, followed by bankruptcy declaration
days later, on April 13.
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