Vince McMahon said under oath that he has no intention of buying back the XFL out of bankruptcy as some creditors alleged last week, but he confirmed he had been considering it and only made up his mind after the creditors went public with their suspicion. “I’m not ... trying to buy the XFL. I’m not going to be a bidder,” McMahon said in a deposition referenced in a court filing in the bankruptcy case today. Last week, a committee of XFL creditors accused McMahon of setting up the entire bankruptcy to facilitate a plan for him to re-acquire the league at a bargain-basement price, free of liabilities such as staff and coach salaries and venue deals.
In arguing for a quick sale, the XFL’s investment bank Houlihan Lokey says it is in “active conversations with dozens of potential purchasers of the league.” In a sworn statement, Managing Dir William H. Hardie III said 20 possible buyers had executed non-disclosure agreements tied to deep due diligence about a purchase, and another six were preparing those documents. All of them want to run an XFL season in '21, he said, lending urgency to the sales process. Final bids for the XFL’s assets are due by July 6 under the original schedule, with letters of intent due June 12. However, the court still must rule on the creditors’ request for a delay.
