As was reported last week, WWE CEO Vince McMahon appears to be planning another run at professional football, and today his plan became a little more clear.
ESPN is reporting that McMahon has filed details with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about McMahon’s sale of 3.34 million shares of WWE, equaling about $100 million. McMahon sold his shares the filing states to, “primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which Mr. McMahon established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.”
The news of the filing comes after WWE confirmed earlier in the week that the newly formed Alpha Entertainment, was in fact a separate entity of McMahon’s. Alpha Entertainment filed the paperwork for five trademarks regarding the XFL on December 16th, according to records with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office.
The filings sought trademark of the XFL as a professional football league. As well as covering merchandise related to the league. Alpha Entertainment also sought to trademark “URFL”, “UFL”, and “United Football League”.
Vince McMahon’s original run of the XFL was a joint venture between WWE and NBC. The XFL debuted in 2001 and only existed for one season. It was reported that both WWE and NBC lost approximately $35 million each after taxes on the XFL experiment.
