ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KTVI) – WWE star and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is part of a group that has purchased the XFL for $15 million, according to Variety’s sister site Sportico. He is splitting the cost of the league with RedBird Capital investor Gerry Cardinale.
“With gratitude and passion, I’ve built a career with my own two hands and will apply these callouses to our XFL brand,”Johnson tweeted shortly after the announcement. “Excited to create something special for the fans!”
The league said in April that it was not insulated “from the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 crisis.”
There were more than 3 million viewers during the league’s debut. They were drawing about 1.5 million viewers in the fifth and final week before the shutdown.
The XFL’s parent company, which was headed by WWE’s Vince McMahon, originally listed the league with assets and liabilities in the range of about $10 million to $50 million. The league was set to go up for auction today.
The XFL has eight teams in cities like St. Louis, New York, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles. It’s unclear if those cities will be their franchises moving forward.