Vince McMahon and his investment company have teased a “major sports announcement” that is coming on Thursday afternoon, and all indications are that the WWE founder is launching another professional football league.
Rumors have been swirling for quite some time that McMahon could bring back the XFL, and the speculation grew even more last month when he sold $100 million of his WWE stock. According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, the rumors are true.
BREAKING: @VinceMcMahon will announce later today that his investment company @alphaentllc will start a pro football league. Announcement will be made at 3pm ET on company’s social media pages.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 25, 2018
When the XFL was announced in 2001, play began shortly thereafter. However, PWInsider.com is reporting that McMahon’s new pro football league will not begin play until 2020, as McMahon wants to make sure there is a “proper foundation” in place this time around.
The XFL lasted just one season, with the WWE and its TV partner NBC losing an estimated $35 million each. NFL TV ratings declined this past season and the league has dealt with multiple PR issues, so perhaps McMahon feels there is another window of opportunity.
We have already heard one scorned former NFL player say he would be interested in playing for McMahon’s league, but it remains to be seen how cases like that would be handled. In all likelihood, McMahon will try to take everything fans have complained about with the NFL — national anthem protests, strict rules with tackling, etc. — and use that to market his league.
