Dwayne Johnson is buying the XFL

Emailed on August 7, 2020 in The Friday Forward

According to Sportico, a group that includes actor and former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson swooped in to buy the bankrupt football league hours before it was set to go to auction. The price was $15 million, split evenly between Johnson and investment partner RedBird Capital. Dany Garcia, Johnson’s ex-wife and business partner, is also a stakeholder in the business.

XFL president Jeffrey Pollack was thrilled that a bona fide movie star bought his football league.

“This is a Hollywood ending to our sale process and it is an exciting new chapter for the league,” Pollack said, via Eric Fisher of SportsBusiness Group.

The XFL had gotten off to a promising start before the worldwide COVID-19 sports shutdown forced it to shutter. It was reformed in 2018 using the same name as the infamous 2001 football league, but without the focus on wrestling talent. Following an October 2019 draft, it began play in February 2020 with eight teams, premiering with strong ratings and maintaining between one and two million viewers per week.