The Rock’s group buys XFL for $15 million

Can you smell what the The Rock is cookin'?

Hours before the XFL bankruptcy auction began on Monday, Dwayne Johnson’s bidding group, which includes Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital, took it off the market.

The group purchased the XFL for $15 million. The league was previously owned by WWE CEO Vince McMahon and Alpha Entertainment.

“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale (of RedBird Capital), is an investment for me that's rooted deeply in two things — my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” Johnson said in a statement. “With pride and gratitude for all that I've built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL, and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans, and everyone involved for the love of football.”

Johnson and Garcia, who were married for 11 years, are co-founders of Seven Bucks companies, a multi-platform enterprise in television, film and other digital networks.

The rebooted XFL held a draft in October of 2019 and kicked off its season in February with a number of ex-NFLers and familiar former college football players including Landry Jones, Eric Dungey, Marquise Williams and Cardale Jones.

After getting off to a promising start playing five games, the league was forced to suspend and then inevitably cancel the remainder of its season due to the coronavirus pandemic. In March, players were released to sign elsewhere and in April nearly all the remaining XFL staff was laid off.