Alex Alarcon
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Ever since the coronavirus halted the sports world, the XFL has been one of the sports leagues that have taken the hardest hit. It started with the XFL suspending all operations and laying off employees with no sight of return in 2021. After Owner Vince McMahon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck sued McMahon. It’s been a snowball effect ever since, but there could be a small light at the end of the tunnel. According to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, the XFL could be looking at the possibility of coming back. At the moment, XFL president Jeffery Pollack is still on the payroll which is another small sign the league can return. Adding to that, Kaplan stated that venues have started reaching out to venues about restarting agreements. Could it all have been the plan from the start?
“When asked about the possibility McMahon may have filed for Chapter 11 protection to restart the league, a spokesman hired by the XFL wrote in an email, “The response to this filing will speak for itself.”
In Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it allows a business to be restructured without having the trouble of paying back everyone. In hindsight, the league can stop paying all of the employees and venues with getting a gameplan on how to get started once again. Even though the league might have folded, it is nowhere near the same level as the Alliance of American Football league. The AAF filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a year ago, which means they have to sell all of its assets to pay back everyone. Kaplan also stated how the comeback might happen without stepping on any toes.
“Any cash constraints on the debtor are solely the result of unnecessary and unwarranted expenditures by the debtor designed to placate the desires of McMahon, such as the payment … in ticket refunds to unsecured creditors by an estate that allegedly may become administratively insolvent; retention of the debtor’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn., which is across the street from the (headquarters) of McMahon’s principal asset, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (“WWE”); employees in that locale drawing excessive compensation rates who are not needed for an enterprise that has shut down; and a bloated cost-sharing arrangement with the WWE that has yet to be explained for unspecified finance and accounting services,” the committee wrote. “The … bid procedures are designed to ensure that McMahon can acquire the debtor at a fire-sale price with third parties having little or no meaningful opportunity to do the diligence required to ensure a fair process.”
