Some interesting details have emerged from the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, indicating that they have twenty possible bidders who have already signed Non-Disclosure Agreements as they could buy the assets from the XFL with the hopes of relaunching the season in 2021 per court filings.
The XFL's investment banker says 20 possible bidders have already entered into confidentiality agreements as they consider buying its assets from bankruptcy. All hope to execute a 2021 season, per court filings. — Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) May 26, 2020
Last week, it was reported that Vince McMahon was attempting to re-purchase his league, as reported by The Athletics Daniel Kaplan. McMahon was intending to buy back the league at a discount.
In the court filings, McMahon said he would not bid for the XFL and called out reporters saying “I don’t know how it got out there, but the suggestion in the media that and I don’t know whether it came from [the Committee] or not the suggestion in the media is that I’m trying to buy the XFL back for pennies on the dollar. Not only is that not good for my personal reputation, it’s also not true. And I’m – I’m not — not trying to buy the XFL.”
Additional details on the court filings include the potential new buyers have indicated that they are looking to relaunch the XFL season in 2021. “the Debtor’s investment banker, Houlihan Lokey, is currently in active discussions with dozens of potential purchasers, and substantially all potential purchasers have indicated that the potential for an XFL season in spring 2021 is important to them.” The new buyers’ reasons were “Their reasons include a desire to generate revenue and to further establish the league in a content-starved environment in spring 2021 and to avoid leaving space out to 2022 that would allow others to act on the opportunity.
XFL President Jeffrey Pollock commented on the latest court filings. He said “[I]f we are to resume playing in 2021, we would need to be in a go mode ideally by August 1st of this year, and I think there is the chance for us to be in a position to play next year, and so doing would, I think, be good for the business on an ongoing basis.”
As of yesterday, the XFL has twenty potential buyers and six who are in the process of signing Non-Disclosure Agreements. “As of May 25, 2020, Houlihan Lokey had distributed teasers to 235 potential purchasers. As of that date, 20 potential purchasers had executed NDAs and gained access to a data room containing extensive diligence materials, including a Confidential Information Memorandum that Houlihan Lokey added to the data room on May 21, 2020. As of May 25, 2020, six more potential purchasers were in the process of executing NDAs to gain access to the data room. Based on preliminary feedback, there is a robust market for the Debtor’s assets, including a number of potentially interested private equity firms and other strategic and financial sponsors.”
One more note on the potential return of the XFL is that the new owner(s) already have a model in place for the 2021 season if fans are still not allowed to attend due to COVID-19 stating that “The Debtor has modeled for 2021 a “made-for-TV,” 12-week tournament-style approach to its business. The XFL is also well positioned to, if necessary, deliver a crowd-free experience that could thrive in the current environment, given the XFL’s existing innovations such as in-game audio from players and coaches and live on-screen sports wagering information.”
This is encouraging news that there are a lot of buyers interested in buying the XFL. In an Opinion Trax article back on April 28th, which you can click here, I had discussed why there should be more than one buyer for the XFL and that these buyers not only combine the income to buy the league but also negotiate on which franchise they will own. With twenty people interested in the league and an additional six in the process of signing NDA. You could have additional teams entering the league in the future if the sale goes through. It also sounds like the potential buyers want to keep the league as is, but one thing is for sure, Vince McMahon will not lead the XFL to the future. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves as things could unravel between now to the target date of August 1st.
Would you like to see the XFL return next year, and who would you like to see be the XFL Commissioner? Leave a comment down below or find this article on Facebook and Twitter to drop a comment.
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