Vince McMahon Was Reportedly In Talks To Sell The XFL Before Reviving It

By Marc Middleton

Vince McMahon was in talks to sell the XFL name and assets for $50 million, according to a new report from Sports Business reporter Darren Rovell.

Rovell took to Twitter today and reported on Robert Vanech suing the Alliance of American Football (AAF) and Charlie Ebersol. Vanech alleges that he came up with the AAF and because of that, he's entitled to 50% ownership. The lawsuit filing reveals that the original plan was for the AAF to bring back the XFL name for their new football league. They had talks with Vince McMahon to use the XFL name and purchase assets from WWE and NBC for $50 million. AAF officials met with Vince and that's when Vince decided to bring back the XFL on his own.

Rovell wrote, "Charlie Ebersol and the new football league, the AAF, have been sued by Robert Vanech, who said it was his idea to come up with league and was entitled to 50% ownership. Vanech says agreement with Ebersol was ignored, seeks $$ and wants his name part of its history. In lawsuit against AAF and Charlie Ebersol, Robert Vanech — who believed he had a "handshake agreement with Ebersol" said much of what he founded about the league was later credited to partner Bill Polian. Exhibit in lawsuit shows that AAF originally planned to use XFL name & purchase assets from WWE & NBC for $50M. AAF met with Vince McMahon and he decided to start league on his own."

We don't know if Vince had been thinking about bringing the XFL back before the talks with AAF officials. Charlie's father, legendary former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, was featured in ESPN's 30 For 30 documentary on the XFL from 2017. Charlie served as the Director. The special featured a scene at the end where Vince and Dick talked football over dinner, with Vince teasing a possible football project in the future. Dick worked with Vince to launch the original XFL back in 2000. Vince sold $100 million worth of WWE stock to launch Alpha Entertainment as the parent company of the league in 2017 and reportedly told people that he expected to spend an estimated $500 million in the first three years of operations. WWE is a minority owner of the league. The XFL will re-launch in 2020 on Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9, the weekend following the NFL's Super Bowl.

You can see Rovell's tweets below:

Comments

Recommended