ST. LOUIS — As fast as the XFL setup shop and made Ka-Kaw-ing a thing in St. Louis, the BattleHawks and the XFL soared out of business due in part to COVID-19.
Back in April, the league and owner Vince McMahon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the coronavirus pandemic. But, what if there’s a chance the XFL returns?
“The idea is shut it down and then if the pandemic passes, things return to semi-normal, restart it,” said sports business writer for The Athletic Daniel Kaplan on Vince McMahon's bankruptcy filing.
According to an article by Kaplan, XFL president Jeffery Pollack has reached out to cities about bringing the XFL back.
“The three venues I know of are in St. Louis, Seattle and Houston, to see about keeping the lease agreement,” said Kaplan.
When 5 On Your Side reached out to the XFL and Explore St. Louis for a comment, there was no response.
According to Kaplan, the buzz started when McMahon tried to pay season ticket holders $3.5 million for games that were never played a part of his bankruptcy.
“They think he’s setting up so that he can get a sweetheart deal to repurchase the assets,” said Kaplan.
When asked if this would be considered bankruptcy fraud, what McMahon would be doing, Kaplan said no.
When Kaplan asked the XFL about McMahon possibly filing this for Chapter 11 protection to restart the league, Kaplan said in the article a spokesman hired by the XFL wrote in an email, “The response to this filing will speak for itself.”
So that means a BattleHawks return isn’t out of the question, but it doesn’t seem like a guarantee.
“I wouldn’t say improbable, but it’s still unlikely, I would say, but still a chance.”
Kaplan said there will be a hearing in bankruptcy court this week as McMahon wants the assets sold by July, but creditors want to stretch that process out another two to three months he said. Ultimately, it will be up to a judge to decide what the process is for this bankruptcy filing.
