Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital buy XFL for $15 million just hours before the league's bankruptcy sale

insider@insider.com (Tyler Lauletta)
·2 min read
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the latest investor to make a bet on spring football, resurrecting the XFL for a potential third life.

Steve Dietl/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

  • Dwayne Johnson, along with his ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia and private investment firm RedBird Capital, bought the XFL.

  • The deal was worth a reported $15 million, according to Sportico.

  • No, this is not a subplot from HBO's "Ballers," as much as it might sound like one.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Just hours before the league was set to go to auction, Dwayne Johnson bought the XFL.

Johnson, along with his ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia and private investment firm RedBird Capital, bought the defunct league for $15 million. The deal was first reported by Scott Soshnick at Sportico.

Johnson played football at the University of Miami before his career in WWE and his later ascendance to superstardom. In a statement, Johnson expressed his excitement to bring his love of football to the upstart 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," 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 second iteration of the XFL was announced in 2018 by WWE CEO Vince McMahon. After getting off to a promising start in February, the league was forced to close just five weeks into its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later, the league suspended operations and laid off the majority of their workforce.

The league was set to go to auction on Monday, but instead, Johnson, Garcia, and RedBird Capital swooped in with their own deal. It's unclear how the trio will use their new asset, but given Johnson's success as a producer, it looks like the XFL will get a third life at some point in the near future.

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