As Dany Garcia and The Rock are the new owners of the XFL, RedBird Capital Partners is a key player moving forward. This investment firm has a long history of success and a growing interest in the sports world.
This past year they’ve started a Special Purpose Acquisition Company to build a base of sports properties and assets, seeded a player licensing rights company with the NFLPA and MLB, and have purchased Toulouse FC, a French football franchise in Ligue II.
Now with the XFL under their umbrella, they stand poised to rebuild and expand upon the success of the XFL’s 2020 debut.
The league’s ratings were up, attendance was skyrocketing in markets like Seattle and St. Louis, and the onfield product was drawing interest all over before the lockdown ended the season.
Now, Garcia & The Rock have a massive firm to back up their entertainment, financial and athletic experience. At this point, its unclear how much involvement RedBird will take in day to day operations, but their recent interest in growing a sports empire is encouraging.
As Dana White was quick to point out, RedBird manages over $4 Billion in assets. As long as we’re talking dollars, its worth noting that the league will require a lot of seed money to get rolling, beyond the $15 Million price tag.
The Rock’s net worth is listed at $320 Million, Dany Garcia’s is around $20 Million, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a large sum of seed money comes in to get league operations going. Vince McMahon (listed at $2.5 Billion in 2019) committed to spending around $500 Million to get the XFL through its first few seasons.
Much of the blueprint is still laid out, but there’s a lot of work to be done, and I’m excited by all aspects of the new ownership group. It’s money talk right now, but we’ll be back to football sooner than you think.
