Garcia and Johnson bought the league for $15 million, with unspecified backing from RedBird, in August 2020, four months after the XFL folded. WWE founder Vince McMahon tried again almost two decades later, but XFL 2.0 didn’t even make it as far as 1.0 did, ceasing operations midseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first XFL debuted in 2001 as a joint venture between WWE and NBC but lasted only one season. And the history of spring football is rife with failures, from the first USFL to the Alliance of American Football to two previous versions of the XFL. Even though Johnson played football at Miami, and RedBird has worked intimately with several sporting concerns - including multiple players associations through OneTeam Partners and with the NFL through On Location while also investing in Fenway Sports Group and AC Milan - none has direct experience operating an entire league. She is involved in most of the league’s day-to-day business efforts, leaning on her relationships with Disney (through her production company) and Under Armour (with which she works on Johnson’s Project Rock apparel line) to negotiate the fledgling league’s media and team uniform deals with those respective properties, and helping design those uniforms.īut the XFL is something different for her, Johnson and Cardinale. Garcia is deeply involved in each business endeavor she undertakes, and the XFL is no different. The 54-year-old Garcia’s business résumé is filled with noteworthy entries, including film projects, athletic clothing lines, live event experiences, social justice initiatives and even a premium tequila, Teremana, all of which has helped her build a net worth reported to be in the range of 10 figures. She’s extremely supportive as we have built this.” She’s a tremendous leader on and off the field. “What she has accomplished as a professional athlete and multimedia executive is impressive. “She is a powerhouse,” said Russ Brandon, XFL president of league and football operations and the former president of the Buffalo Bills. Together with longtime business partner (and former husband) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson - whose career she manages - and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, Garcia has a vision of the spring football league as a developmental vehicle for players with NFL dreams and a unique sports and entertainment experience for fans. Now, as the first female owner and chair of a professional sports league, she is tasked with making the third version of the XFL a success. Garcia has used that mindset to build a vast portfolio of businesses under the umbrella of The Garcia Companies. Her passionate, aggressive approach to projects she tackles is the embodiment of a defense’s leader. “I identify as a middle linebacker,” she said.Īnyone who has encountered Garcia in the business, entertainment or athletic worlds can understand that characterization. Garcia never took up the challenge, but that doesn’t mean she lacks a football mindset. “The players would taunt me,” she said, laughing. So when she stood on the sidelines in Arlington, Texas, last month watching XFL players during training camp for the league’s 2023 reboot, the league’s chairwoman and owner couldn’t help but trade barbs with them. And someone who has always wanted to be more than just a spectator. Garcia is the first female owner of a professional sports league.
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