WWE revealed in an 10-Q SEC filing that the company is officially a minority owner in Alpha Entertainment LLC, the parent company responsible for the relaunch of the XFL.
According to a report by PWInsider.com, the filing notes that WWE granted Alpha Entertainment the rights to the XFL name and trademarks in exchange for “minority stakes”, which ultimately were given for free.
The filing states:
“On April 3, 2018, the Company entered into a transaction with Alpha Entertainment LLC (“Alpha”), an entity controlled by Vincent K. McMahon, granting Alpha rights to launch a professional football league under the name “XFL”. Alpha has announced that it expects that this launch will occur in early 2020. Under these agreements, WWE received, among other things, a minority equity interest in Alpha without payment by, or other financial obligation on the part of, WWE.”
This news comes just months after the XFL relaunch was made official to the media back in January by Vince McMahon, who specifically stated “there will be no crossover whatsoever from WWE to the new XFL.” That of course has been called into question with this filing.
It’s possible WWE and Alpha Entertainment have reached some kind of marketing agreement to promote the relaunch of the football league in 2020. WWE showed a commercial for the XFL during the Smackdown Live taping in Montreal this past week.
The same report by Mike Johnson indicated all promotional material for the XFL has been created by WWE’s production team as of this year.
They were pushing #XFL2020 during a commercial break in Montreal tonight #SDLive pic.twitter.com/vg7dm4NqXM
— Wrestleview.com (@wrestleview) May 2, 2018