The XFL won’t play in 2021, the league announced Thursday, and is targeting a return in the spring of 2022. Co-owner Dwayne Johnson tweeted the news Thursday morning, and the league followed with an official announcement.
Johnson, longtime business partner Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners completed their purchase of the league from Vince McMahon for $15 million in August.
Click here to read the story at espn.com.
For an in-depth look at the league’s focus on finding a broadcast partner, click here to ready a story at sportico.com.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think Dwayne Johnson invested in the XFL?
- What do you think it will take for the XFL to become successful?
- Why do you think the league won’t plan to restart play until 2022? Do you think that strategy makes sense for the league to succeed? Why or why not?
- What are broadcast rights?
- How important do you think it will be for the league to find a broadcast partner with a major network like Fox or ESPN? Why?
- What is fandom? What is brand loyalty?
- How might the fandom surrounding the sport of football and the high level of loyalty demonstrated by Dwayne Johnson fans help the XFL reboot to succeed?
- In your opinion, will the latest attempt to revive the XFL be a long-term success? Why or why not?