An investor group, which includes actor and former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has agreed to purchase the XFL.
ESPN reported the news on Monday, saying the sale would total about $15 million. The professional football league has never been able to successfully compete with the NFL, closing just after 1 season in 2001. After returning nearly 20-years later, the XFL declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 13 after the COVID-19 outbreak shut down most professional sports in the United States. The league averaged 1.9 million television viewers per game and generated nearly $20 million in gross revenues in 2020.
“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,” said Johnson, who played football at the University of Miami from 1990 to 1994. “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.”
