You can now add sports league owner to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s impressive resume as the movie star and former WWE wrestler joined Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners to purchase the XFL for approximately $15 million on Monday.
“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 fan,” Johnson said in a statement.
“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.”
The group bought all of the assets of Alpha Entertainment LLC, the parent company of the XFL. The league had filed for bankruptcy after restarting for the 2020 season and was supposed to be auctioned off to highest bidder Monday.
The deal must now be approved in bankruptcy court Friday and, assuming that all the conditions are satisfied, the deal is expected to close on Aug. 21. The XFL filed for chapter 11 in April after the league was forced to shut down a month earlier because of the COVID-19 pandemic, listing $10 to $50 million in debts.
The plan is to relaunch the league, but so far no timetable has been set at this point. Johnson played college football at the University of Miami and in the CFL before turning into a pro wrestling superstar in WWE with former XFL owner Vince McMahon.