Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his business partners have purchased the XFL for $15 million.
Guessing it doesn’t matter to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that the XFL has been a twice-failed experiment under his former boss, WWE kingpin Vince McMahon.
The former WWE champion, actor and mogul and his business partners have been revealed as the group to acquire the spring football league that went bankrupt due to the coronavirus pandemic after five weeks of play in 2020 during its second incarnation.
Garcia is Johnson’s business partner and first wife.
Prior to his run in WWE, Johnson played college ball at Miami and had a stint in the CFL. He became a mega-star after joining the Stamford, Ct,-based company.
His boss, McMahon, tried to make spring football a go in 2001. The league had big ratings after one week and then became a laughingstock.
The reincarnation produced a better brand of football, innovations — like a unique kickoff — and started with solid TV ratings for FOX and ESPN. However, the numbers slipped through the first five weeks and McMahon pulled the plug early in the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the University of Houston, which played host to the Roughnecks, believes it is entitled to about 800K
Per 247sports.com:
UH, in addition to hosting the Roughnecks, was also home to the XFL’s training camp ahead of its short-lived 2020 season, and the has the potential to host games once again if the league can be revitalized. A section of a recent court filing, as provided by XFL News Hub, indicated that both parties already agreed to a payment of nearly $730,000, but UH claims that an additional $112,500 is due.
“Upon information and belief, the Parties are in agreement of a cure amount of $729,444.25.2 (UH) asserts that an additional $112,500 is due (for a total of $841,944.25) under the Venue Use Agreement for field replacement which has already occurred and costs and expenses have already been incurred. While the second installment payment of $112,500 is not due until May 2021, the University is aware that an argument could be made by a prospective purchaser in a sale that such amount accrued pre-petition and therefore should have been included in the cure amount. As a result, the University is filing this Objection to preserve the issue.
WHEREFORE, the University respectfully requests that the Court permit the University to preserve the issue that the referenced $112,500 shall be due and owing under the terms of the Agreements upon any assumption and assignment, and grant the University such other and further relief, both at law and in equity, to which the University may justly be entitled.”
Johnson starred in an HBO series around football called “Ballers.”
