Garcia's plans include an expansion of the league from its current eight-team formatGETTY IMAGES
XFL co-Owner Dany Garcia is the "first woman to own a professional sports league" and, as such, "sees a huge opportunity in growing the female fan base" of the league, according to Priya Desai of SI.com. Just months after the announcement that she and ex-husband and business partner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, along with RedBird Capital, purchased the bankrupt league, Garcia is "direct in her vision." Her days are "packed with Zoom meetings with employees all around the world." Both Garcia and Johnson are "determined to give the XFL a long tenure and understand the limitations of the pandemic." The XFL "had a decent cult following last season, but viewership eventually dipped under the 1 million mark." Garcia's sights are "set high and plans include an expansion of the league from its current eight-team format; a focus on innovation and technology; and an emphasis on defining the culture of the XFL, which Garcia describes as 'the younger, trendy, kind-of-cooler-haircut sibling'" of the NFL (SI.com, 10/21).
