The XFL misplaced $60 million this previous season, based on Forbes, the primary season since Vince McMahon offered the league to a bunch led by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in late 2020.
This model of the XFL underneath Johnson and longtime enterprise associate and ex-wife Dany Garcia led a consortium to buy the league for $15 million, which returned this previous season.
Regardless of the monetary loss Johnson insists that the “league of alternative” could have long-term success.
“Soccer was my dream,” Johnson stated in an interview with Forbes. “The NFL was my factor. I used to be going to purchase my dad and mom their first home. Soccer didn’t finish on my phrases. I want I’d had the XFL once I was popping out.”
As of Could 22, 67 gamers who participated within the XFL in the course of the 2023 season had been invited exercise for NFL groups. Twenty-two of them signed NFL contracts, based on the league.
Johnson insists that the XFL just isn’t a aspect enterprise for him, and that the league has a imaginative and prescient underneath the present mannequin they’re following.
“This isn’t simply an endeavor that’s going to replenish a portfolio and in the future we flip it and we’re out,” Johnson stated. “That is legacy. That is the lengthy sport.”
The league is projecting $100 million in income subsequent season, Forbes indicated.
Practically one-quarter of its revenue comes from ESPN, which pays the league $20 million per season.
The aforementioned Garcia, chair of the XFL, echoed Johnson’s sentiments relating to the league’s capability to progress.
“We’re extraordinarily well-capitalized for the long-term,” Garcia stated. “That is our new WWE. The following huge stay property.”
Eight groups performed within the XFL this previous season, which ended on Could 13 after the Arlington Renegades defeated DC Defenders within the league’s Championship sport.
The Renegades have been 4-6 within the common season, whereas the Defenders completed 9-1.
The championship sport had over 22,000 followers in attendance and was reportedly watched by 1.Four million individuals on TV.