Chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Vince McMahon sold 3.34 million company shares, worth more than $100 million (shares closed at $31.87 on Thursday); noting the proceeds were “primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which he established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” On December 16th, Alpha filed for 5 different trademarks on “XFL”; in addition to recently registered marks on “URFL”, “United Football League”, “UFL” and “For the love of Football”. The XFL ran for just one season before folding in 2001.
Howie Long-Short: WWE shares hit an all-time high earlier this week ($32.92), so while Vince is selling a decent chunk of the company (4.3%); he’s cashing out at the right time. He’ll also still owns 41.8% of all outstanding WWE common shares (with 82.8% of the voting power). I simply question the feasibility of the XFL 2.0 success. The league lost $70 million the first time around and had the benefit of NBC’s (CMCSA) promotion behind it. Does a few extra months of training camp really make a difference? Fool me once (for a half), shame on you. I won’t be fooled again.
Fan Marino: While on the topic of upstart leagues, LaVar Ball’s Junior Basketball Association seems to be based on flawed logic. The top HS players can get paid $1 million to go overseas, so they aren’t playing for $100,000; and there is no market to watch second-tier HS players, without the emotional attachment of a college jersey on them. Oh, and who is funding this league? BBB is the apparel and sneaker provider, eliminating any potential for the usual suspects (NKE, ADDYY) to participate.
Vince McMahon sells $100 million of WWE stock as XFL reboot plan continues
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