The XFL seemed to finally be a viable league to coexist with the NFL..until the unfortunately events known as Coronavirus struck.
The spring football league’s and brainchild of Vince McMahon unveiled plans for its second iteration a few years ago and kicked off the second inaugural season in 2020, to relative success.
But before the season could conclude, COVID-19 hit the league like it did many other businesses, forcing layoffs, Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and eventually a total shutdown with no plans to restart the league again.
But there could now be hope…
Late last week there was speculation that Vince McMahon was going to try and buy back the league. That notion was ended earlier this week as McMahon declared in court files, that he was not interested in buying back the XFL.
In that court filing, we learned that there are over 20 interested parties inquiring details about the XFL and have signed NDA’s (Non-Disclosure-Agreements). We also learned the timeline for when all these legal proceeds will go down.
This week CBS Sports writer Jason La Canfora published a lengthy article about how it would be in the interest of the NFL to purchase the spring league. His article was titled: NFL needs a developmental league and rebooting the XFL is the perfect fit to improve league diversity, depth.
This week our Mark Perry sat down with noted XFL insider Mike Mitchell to talk about everything that has transpired behind the scenes over the last several months. In that interview, Mitchell drops this bombshell.
“I know that media companies have made inquiries on the possibility of purchasing the XFL. I do know that both FOX and Disney have inquired. What I do not know is whether or not they are part of the 20 potential bidders and companies now that are in on the potential auction process. But I do know that FOX and Disney have shown interest in purchasing the XFL.“
Mike Mitchell
You can listen to the full audio here. Mitchell goes into great detail on why it would make sense for the big media company.
The ramifications of a FOX/Disney purchase of the XFL would not only bring excitement back to the XFL players, coaches, staff, and fans. But the idea that a hugely successful media company owning their own sports league could send shockwaves throughout the supporting world.
With rising Television rights fees and exploding player salaries. How would the sporting world change if a major media corporation owned its owns sports league. Would FOX/Disney bring back XFL CEO and Commissioner Oliver Luck, now that Vince McMahon is out of the picture? There are so many more questions to be answered.
We will eventually have an answer on August 7th when the sale hearing takes place in a court room in Delaware.
