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https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/dozen...ent-per-report/

Dozens of bidders in 'active discussions' to buy XFL, restart league for 2021 tournament, per report

Two months after the revived XFL abruptly suspended and then cancelled its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the now-bankrupt spring football league may have found new life. According to The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan, the XFL's investment bank is currently in "active discussions" with dozens of potential purchasers who want to fund and restart the league for a 2021 season.

In mid-April, days after laying off nearly its entire staff, the XFL filed for bankruptcy. Owner/founder Vince McMahon said then that he would not try to buy back the league, and he's reiterated that stance in an attempt to refute accusations he used bankruptcy as a tool to purchase the XFL for "pennies on the dollar." With McMahon out of the picture, however, "there is a robust market" for the league, Kaplan reported, not only to fill a spring 2021 schedule but prevent any competitors from seizing on an opportunity to supplement the NFL with additional professional football.

Twenty different bidders, to be exact, have executed non-disclosure agreements to negotiate with Houlihan Lokey, the XFL's global investment bank, according to Kaplan. Six more are in the process of doing so. And all indications are that all potential purchasers intend to try to bring the XFL back onto the turf -- and TV -- by the spring.

"In fact, I understand the Debtor has modeled for 2021 a made-for-TV, 12-week tournament-style approach to its business," Houlihan managing partner William Hardie told Kaplan, "since the XFL is particularly well suited for a crowd-free experience that could thrive in the current environment, given its existing innovations such as in-game audio from players and coaches and live on-screen sports wagering information."

The sales process could run all the way through mid-September, per Kaplan. It's unclear just how much could change about the league in the event of a sale. League commissioner Oliver Luck, who was among the countless layoffs during the XFL's shutdown, recently sued McMahon for wrongful termination after netting a reported $20 million contract to head the league. XFL president Jeffrey Pollack, meanwhile, has reportedly reached out to multiple venues from the league's 2020 season about reinstating stadium licenses.

Lol please just die! It’s like a cheesy horror movie when the enemy won’t die.

I just don’t think the XFL will ever gain enough steam

I hope they make it. Gives more guys an opportunity to earn money and live out their dream. I thought they had some very good rules and were not nearly as commercialized as the NFL.

Vince McMahon is a scumbag.

What's wrong having February thru April football?

It was cool the last couple of years having football right after the Super Bowl.

I agree. I enjoyed it.

Love the Python! First thought I had and then this clip. It is to giggle!

As far as the XFL, put a fork in it.

"This league, sir, is a dead polly!" Another favorite. Despite the byootifull plumage on the Norwegian Blue, I think it has parted the veil and joined the Choir Invisible. We may need new options.

I did too. Watched a bunch of good games. Since I was relocated to the STL, I embraced the Battlehawks - and so did everyone in the area. That team stared across at more talent every week and just went out and found a way to win. So many great stories of so called "second tier" athletes that went out and busted rump to live their dream. What's not to like?

Craziest story was Cardale. Dude went from superstar to dog food and sitting on the bench in three weeks flat... it was uncanny.

Agreed. I thought it was entertaining football.

Not dead yet at all .......

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, investor group agree to buy XFL for $15M
https://www.espn.com/xfl/story/_/id/29588303/dwayne-rock-johnson-investor-group-agree-buy-xfl-15m

A group including actor and former WWE star Dwayne Johnson has agreed to purchase the XFL for about $15 million, according to a news release issued Monday morning.

The XFL declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 13 and has been seeking a buyer for the past three months, marketing itself as a made-for-TV product that could transition as early as 2021 to a bubble concept during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson and his investors -- who include his business partner Dany Garcia along with RedBird Capital Partners -- are making plans to play next season, Garcia told ESPN.

"We're planning for it," said Garcia, the first female owner of a major American sports league. "We're doing all the steps that need to happen for the execution of that. But we're also being mindful to what has actually been successful. It has been really interesting to see that [in sports], when you create a bubble, your players are safe. When you don't, it's chaos. We are a league, because of the number of teams we have, that actually can create a bubble environment. Those discussions are active."

The sale must be approved by a bankruptcy judge at a hearing Friday. Monday afternoon, the bankruptcy court's committee of unsecured creditors filed an objection based on certain assets included in the sale.

Garcia will have an executive position with the XFL and said that both she and Johnson will have a hands-on approach to running the league. Asked about hiring other executive-level leaders, she said: "We've been in close discussion with the current XFL management team."

"There are a lot of excellent people in that team," Garcia said. "While it's not 100% just turning the lights on, there is still a tremendous amount of infrastructure and relationships that you can actually call people back, pull people back. We saw the work that they were doing for this year, and there was some excellent, excellent work. There is a team there."

XFL president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Pollack is among the league's few active employees. Most were laid off April 10.

The XFL has twice shuttered after one season, first in 2001 and again earlier this year as a result of the pandemic, and there hasn't been a successful alternative professional football league since the AFL forced a merger with the NFL in 1970. But XFL owner Vince McMahon had been a determined aspirant, investing $200 million in the league's second incarnation, one that promised to "reimagine" the game. But the eight teams suspended play after five weeks.

McMahon considered bidding on the XFL himself early in the bankruptcy process but ultimately decided against it.

In a statement, Johnson, 48, provided a glimpse of the McMahon-like flair he could bring to the league.

"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," said Johnson, who played football at the University of Miami from 1990 to 1994. "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."

In a statement, Pollack called the pending sale "a Hollywood ending" and said Johnson's investors are "a dream team ownership group and the XFL is in the best possible hands going forward."

Cardinale is the managing partner and CEO of RedBird, which manages more than $4 billion in assets. Last week, it purchased a controlling interest in Toulouse Football Club, a French soccer team. In November, it invested $125 million in a new company that secures commercial rights for the NFL

Organizational plans for the newest version of the XFL are not clear. McMahon fired XFL commissioner Oliver Luck on April 9, and Luck responded by suing McMahon for wrongful termination and is seeking $23.8 million. The lawsuit was on hold awaiting the results of the bankruptcy.

The league averaged 1.9 million television viewers per game and generated nearly $20 million in gross revenues in 2020, according to court filings. It had projected $46 million in gross revenues for the 10-game season, each data point exceeding internal expectations, according to sources.

Way to go Rock!

Hope he gets it back up and running soon... I thought it was going in the right direction this time before Covid hit

Aww C'mon Vers! You can be a little less politically correct once in a while. It's the XFL anyway, it was a carnee show to begin with.

And he owns it. - He Probably has that written and stares at it during his morning routine. ^

I agree. There is a place for this and for some of the better players, it could be a stepping stone to the NFL.

Yes, this second incarnation was a much better product than the first and some of the new rules were very interesting.

I hope this gets it back on track.

Really, the NFL needs to back one of these leagues to make it more of a minor league system. Unfortunately, they have college football for that now, which costs them nothing. It can only make the NFL better if one of these survives.