The Rock Comments On XFL’s Future After $60 Million Loss
The Rock has offered up some optimistic comments after reports about the XFL losing quite a bit of money in its first year under his ownership.
It was in 2001 when WWE’s Executive Chairman Vince McMahon launched the XFL as a spring (American) football league along with NBC. While it started off strong, there were massive losses for both WWE & NBC, so the league was shut down.
Vince McMahon decided to re-launch the XFL in 2020. Unfortunately for Vince, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March 2020 and that meant sporting events would stop for several months. Vince decided to shut down the league again while also announcing he wasn’t going to keep it going.
In August 2020, a consortium led by Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (through Cardinale’s fund RedBird Capital Partners) purchased the XFL for $23.5 million before there was an auction for the league. They announced a 2023 re-launch for the XFL.
The 2023 XFL season had eight teams playing ten games with the 4-6 Arlington Renegades beating the 9-1 DC Defenders in the XFL Championship game on May 13th. The TV audience had about 1.4 million people watching and they had over 22,000 fans at the championship game.
It was reported by Forbes that the XFL lost about $60 million in its first year while also cutting some jobs in the process.
Dany Garcia, who is The Rock’s ex-wife and mother of WWE superstar Ava, is also the Chairwoman of the XFL and she is the one that pitched the purchase idea to The Rock. She remains optimistic about the XFL’s future as she told Forbes.
“We’re extremely well-capitalized for the long-term. This is our new WWE. The next massive live property.”
As for The Rock, he also remains optimistic about the XFL.
“My goal was can we get through the first season. This is not just an endeavor that’s going to fill up a portfolio and one day we flip it and we’re out. This is legacy. This is the long game.”
It was reported late last year that The Rock’s movie “Black Adam” was considered a disappointment financially and now the XFL has lost a significant amount of money, but that can be expected for a new venture.
At least The Rock’s tequila business Teremana is going very well for him as he shared on Instagram recently.
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