‘The Rock’ Buys XFL With Group for $15M

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Redbird Capital to be co-owner

(Image credit: XFL)

A group led by former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has agreed to buy Vince McMahon’s XFL for $15 million.

According to Sportico, Johnson and RedBird Capital will split the alternative football league, which looked to revive itself this year but was crushed by the coronavirus.

The XFL filed for bankruptcy in April and was put up for sale. An auction was expected to begin on Monday.

In the bankruptcy filing, Alpha Entertainment listed assets of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities in the same range.

Started by McMahon with NBC, The XFL played one season in 2001. 

McMahon announced plans to revive the league in 2018 and it started play earlier this year. The XFL drew more than 3 million viewers in its first week. The audience was about half that number in its fifth and final week before the shutdown.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.