This story was updated at 5:30 PM Eastern.
It appears WWE legend and movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is attempting to take the theme of his HBO series Ballers and translate it into real life.
On Monday morning, news broke that a group led by Johnson has purchased the assets of Vince McMahon’s XFL for approximately $15 million, hours before an auction in bankruptcy court was set to begin. The deal, brokered by XFL president Jeffrey Pollack, is expected to be approved by the court on August 7th and close on August 21st.
Johnson’s ex-wife and business partner, Dany Garcia, is also an investor while Johnson and RedBird Capital’s Gerry Cardinale are each equal investors, splitting the $15 million investment. Cardinale’s group is a regular investor in sports properties and related businesses.
The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan reported Monday afternoon that, “The XFL’s committee of unsecured creditors has filed an objection to The Rock deal over what is included in the sale.”
Based on the press release, the plan is to relaunch the league.
Johnson 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.”
McMahon and his Alpha Entertainment group shut down the league in April due to the pandemic and filed for bankruptcy mid-month, listing assets and liabilities in the range of $10-$50 million. McMahon owned 100 percent of Class A shares and 76.5 percent of Class B shares, while WWE owned 23.5 percent of Class B shares. Reports indicate he was planning on investing up to $500 million in the first three years of the league’s relaunch.
The league had TV deals in place with both ESPN/ABC and Fox and Johnson has an existing relationship with NBC as they air his Titan Games show where he’s an executive producer.
