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Details on Dwayne Johnson buying the XFL

Do you smell what The Rock is tailgating? Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of three parties who have purchased the recently bankrupt XFL.

Johnson has partnered with his longtime business partner, Danny Garcia, and Redbird Capital to purchase the failed league out of bankruptcy for $15 million. While the deal is not 100% final yet, Johnson and Garcia have said that they are planning on the future of the XFL.

Garcia, who will be the first female owner of a major sports league, will take on an executive role within the XFL 3.0.

“We’re planning for it… We’re doing all the steps that need to happen for the execution of that. But we’re also being mindful to what has actually been successful. It has been really interesting to see that [in sports], when you create a bubble, your players are safe. When you don’t, it’s chaos. We are a league, because of the number of teams we have, that actually can create a bubble environment. Those discussions are active.”

When asked about who would be running the league, Garcia mentioned that the ownership was in talks with the current XFL management team. One has to wonder if this might mean that Oliver Luck, the former CEO and Commissioner of the XFL, might be returning to ta role in the revamped league. No decisions have been made on who will be running the league.

Currently, one of the only members of the XFL team from the Alpha Entertainment executive team is the XFL President Jeffrey Pollack. Most other XFL employees were laid off on April 10.

Vince McMahon, the founder and now former owner of the XFL, considered purchasing the league out of bankruptcy but eventually decided against it. It should be important to know that McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment pledged $500 million to run the league over 3 years. The Johnson/Garcia/RedBird Capital group has not made a public commitment for an investment in the XFL.

The XFL currently has TV deals with Fox Sports and ESPN. Many of the stadiums that the XFL played in still have lease agreements with the league. The bankruptcy sale’s proceeds would go to pay off the debts to stadiums accrued through Alpha Entertainment.

“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things — my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” said Johnson, who played football at the University of Miami from 1990 to 1994. “With pride and gratitude for all that I’ve built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans and everyone involved for the love of football.”

Pollack released a statement calling the Johnson purchase “a Hollywood ending” and called the new owners “a dream team ownership group and the XFL is in the best possible hands going forward.”

An interesting note, Johnson’s HBO show Ballers had a very similar story arch in the final season. The difference is that Johnson’s character attempted to purchase an NFL team and in real life, Johnson purchased an entire league.

The XFL 2.0 averaged 1.9 million viewers. According to ESPN, the league generated $20 million in gross revenue and projected $46 million for their first season. Their week to week attendance rose and social media engagement was steady.

3 August, 2020 0 comment

Business Featured

SiriusXM buys podcast service Stitcher for $325 million

written by Ruben Jay

SiriusXM has purchased the podcasting platform Stitcher from E.W. Scripps for $325 million. Sirius has been in talks for weeks to purchase Stitcher. Stitcher is a podcasting platform that was owned by the company behind Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend and other major podcasts.

With the purchase, Sirius is setting themselves up to compete with Podcasting powerhouses such as Apple Podcast, Spotify, and iHeartMedia. The podcasting game has been getting extremely competitive with names like Joe Rogan being signed to exclusive deals with Spotify and other platforms buying up podcasting platforms and production companies.

“With this acquisition, SiriusXM’s combined properties will contain the largest addressable audience in the US across all categories of digital audio — reaching over 150 million listeners,” Sirius Chief Executive Jim Meyer said in a memo to staff Monday.

Sirius has been slowly moving into the podcasting space as they purchased Pandora for $3.5 billion in 2018. Pandora is best known as a music streaming platform but has many podcasts featured on their service.

According to the New York Post, Sirius will make a $265 million cash payment to Scripps and then an additional $60 million that is contingent to Stitcher meeting financial metrics in 2020 and 2021. Scripps has been shopping Stitcher around for a few months now as they have had pressure on their core TV businesses.

13 July, 2020 0 comment

Entertainment Featured

Kelly Rippa is filming from paradise amid Coronavirus lockdowns

written by Ruben Jay

Long time host of ABC’s Live with Kelly & Ryan Kelly Rippa has been filming her show from the Caribbean, according to Page Six. Rippa is filming from Paradise while her co-host, Ryan Seacrest, had to take time off after he “suffered from exhaustion”, on ABC’s American Idol.

According to the report, Rippa and her husband (Mark Consuelos) took their three kids to the Caribbean in March, before the stay-at-home orders went into effect. The celebrity couple made the decision to keep their family in the Caribbean.

While Rippa has been locked down in paradise, she has had a rough time adjusting to the “new normal”. Rippa broke down into tears when she opened up about her “rough time” on air. She stated that she’s been locked down with her three children who refuse to hug her. “I’m like, ‘Guys, we’ve all been on lockdown together. We’re fine, you can give me a hug,” she said. Rippa and Consuelos have donated $1 Million to Covid-19 relief efforts.

Seacrest took a day off from his duties on Live! after he slurred his words on American Idol’s finale last Sunday. Fans of Seacrest and Idol took to Twitter to ponder if Seacrest had a stroke live on air. Seacrest not only slurred his words but one of his eyes swelled up, which is a sign of a stroke. Seacrest claimed via a representative that he was suffering from exhaustion amid hosting 4 live shows from home.

“Ryan did not have any kind of stroke last night,” his rep said in a statement Monday, provided to CNN and People. “Like many people right now, Ryan is adjusting to the new normal and finding work-home balance, with the added stress of having to put on live shows from home.”

“Between ‘Live with Kelly and Ryan,’ ‘American Idol,’ ‘On Air with Ryan Seacrest,’ and the Disney Family Singalong specials, he has been juggling three to four on-air jobs over the last few weeks and he’s in need of rest,” the statement said.

22 May, 2020 0 comment

Featured Music

7 Alter Bridge songs to help you survive the lockdowns

written by Ruben Jay

Alter Bridge, the hard rock band fronted by Myles Kennedy and former members of Creed (Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Philips), has become one of the biggest bands in rock today. Founded in 2004, Alter Bridge initially had a hard time breaking away from the massive shadow cast by Creed (Creed had been probably the biggest band in America in 1999).

Following Creed’s public meltdown, Mark Tremonti and Scott Philips called their old friend Brian Marshall and got to work. Tremonti would bring in Kennedy after most of their debut record had already been written.

Their first record, One Day Remains was released on the same label Creed was on, Wind-Up Records. Wind-Up attempted to put Alter Bridge into the same box as Creed, a post grunge, spiritual rock band. Tremonti had alway been leaned more towards metal than Creed’s releases did. Kennedy was most famous for his time in alternative rock band, The Mayfield Four, but also had blues and jazz roots.

16 years later, the band is known for pushing limits on their records and their tremendous musical abilities – both Tremonti and Kennedy are top-tier guitar players. (Tremonti was named Guitar World’s Guitarist of The Year for 3 consecutive years in a row, while Kennedy won Loudwire’s Vocalist of the Year 3 consecutive years in a row as well from 2012-15).

As the Covid-19 shut downs continue, I find myself listening to Alter Bridge on a daily basis, so I decided to dive into their discography and pick out 7 underrated songs that have helped me get through these days.

#7 – Shed My Skin

“Shed My Skin” is off their debut record, One Day Remains. This song is deep within the first record coming in at number 10 out of 11. If you didn’t know any better, you would think that this is a Creed leftover, but Kennedy helps take this song to a new level.

Kennedy does a great job showcasing what he can do with his vocals. This song hasn’t gotten much live play on the most recent tours.

#6 – Burn It Down

“Burn It Down” is another song off the first record that doesn’t seem to get much love. It is a ballad song that showcases Kennedy’s lower register and breathy vocals. Most of the song is a simple sounding chord progression with very simple sounding drums and bass lines.

The second verse actually showcases one of my favorite moments in an Alter Bridge song where Kennedy belts “hard to tell my nights now from my days” (also appropriate for the lockdown days we are in). This song made its return to the band’s setlist on the first leg of the “Walk the Sky Tour” when Kennedy was sick and Tremonti took over on vocals.

12 May, 2020 0 comment

Business Featured Sports XFL

The XFL filing for bankruptcy doesn’t mean the league is ending

written by Ruben Jay

The Vince McMahon owned football league, The XFL, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Many XFL fans are taking this as the final nail in the coffin for the league that saw decent numbers in live TV viewing and even better numbers in attendance.

The XFL gave a comment to TMZ:

“The XFL quickly captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of people who love football. Unfortunately, as a new enterprise, we were not insulated from the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Accordingly, we have filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This is a heartbreaking time for many, including our passionate fans, players and staff, and we are thankful to them, our television partners, and the many Americans who rallied to the XFL for the love of football.”

The XFL filing for bankruptcy doesn’t mean the league is ending.

WAIT, WHAT??!!!

The XFL may not be done

Yes, the XFL is filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, which is generally used by businesses that need relief from debt, not necessarily that they are closing their doors. Many companies file for Chapter 11 and come back. Some companies get bought out during the process of Chapter 11. Many airlines has filed for chapter 11 and survived.

Investorpedia states that Chapter 11 “is a form of bankruptcy that involves a reorganization of a debtor’s business affairs, debts, and assets. Named after the U.S. bankruptcy code 11, corporations generally file Chapter 11 if they require time to restructure their debts. This version of bankruptcy gives the debtor a fresh start.”

The idea behind restructuring a companies debt would be that either:

a creditor transfers their debt into ownership into the debtor’s company
the debtor and creditor are able to settle the debt for less than owed.

The XFL could be using chapter 11 to be able to get rid of a big portion of the debt owed (according to ESPN, the company behind the XFL. Alpha Entertainment, LLC, owes between $10-50 million) to be reduced. Currently, the XFL owes about $1.6 million to the St. Louis Sports Commission. If chapter 11 works out well, two parties could settle the debt for, hypothetically, half of what is currently owed.

If the XFL would have filed for Chapter 7, then there would be much more concern that the league is done.

According to The Balance Small Business, Chapter 7 business bankruptcy “may be the best choice when the business has no viable future. It is usually referred to as a liquidation. Chapter 7 is typically used when the debts of the business are so overwhelming that restructuring them is not feasible. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be used for sole proprietorships, partnerships, or corporations.”

Should fans remain hopeful?

While the XFL was a fun league and ended up not finishing their return season, I am not losing hope. Yet. Vince McMahon had committed to spending $500 Million in the first 3 years of the XFL. With the XFL having a realitive small amount of debt (a lot closer to $10 million than the $50 million, in my opinion), and McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment, LLC, being loaded with cash, I wouldn’t be surprised that the Chapter 11 is really an attempt to start as close to fresh as possible next year.

Covid-19 has been a complete hex to businesses. XFL actually paid their staff for an additional month after they suspended their season. That is a lot of cash going out for NO CASH coming in. This is an issue that is going on with many businesses in America right now. Luckily for us at MultiMediaMouth, we have low overhead and the cashflow going out isn’t going to kill us. But for the XFL, if they would have continued to pay their bills with no cashflow coming in could hinder the XFL from being able to run effectively in season 2.

The XFL’s statement seems much more dim than the fact that they are filing for Chapter 11. Had the XFL said that they were doing this in hopes to restructure and return, then I think many of their fans would not be thinking this was the end.

If this is the end, then I would like to thank the XFL.

13 April, 2020 0 comment

Business Featured

Amazon fires warehouse employee who led Staten Island walkout over Coronavirus

written by Ruben Jay

Chris Smalls was a management assistant at the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island who led a walkout in attempt to advocate for more protection against the Coronavirus. Amazon confirmed to CNBC the firing claiming Smalls was warned multiple times for violating the companies social distancing policies.

“Amazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our families, and our communities safe,” Smalls said in a statement. “I am outraged and disappointed, but I’m not shocked. As usual, Amazon would rather sweep a problem under the rug than act to keep workers and working communities safe.”

Amazon also claimed that Smalls refused to self quarantine after he came into contact with an associate who tested positive for Covid-19.

“Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk,” the spokesperson said. “This is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues.”

The New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, said the firing of Smalls was “disgraceful” and her office will look into “legal options”.

31 March, 2020 0 comment

Business Entertainment Featured

Disney’s Bob Iger is giving up his salary during the Coronavirus

written by Ruben Jay

Former Disney CEO and current Executive Chairman, Bob Iger announced that he is giving salary during the Coronavirus outbreak. While his salary only accounts for $3 million out of his $47.5 million in total compensation he received in 2019.

The new CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, announced that his $2.5 million salary is being cut in half during the outbreak. All of this is a part of a pan where all of Disney’s vice presidents will see a 20% decrease in salary and all senior and executive vice presidents will see a 25-30% cut.

“In a matter of weeks, we’ve experienced widespread disruption across our company, with our domestic parks and hotels closed indefinitely, our cruise line suspended, our film and TV production halted and theatrical distribution delayed both domestically and internationally, and our retail stores shut down,” Chapek wrote in a Monday email to staffers.

Disney closed their theme parks last months and continue to pay their employees despite being closed.

31 March, 2020 0 comment

AEW Featured Wrestling

All Elite Wrestling announces the TNT Championship title and tournament

written by Ruben Jay

All Elite Wrestling released the following announcement. The new wrestling league will unveil a new midcard title at their flagship show, Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on May 23, 2020. With the title being named after their television home, one would have to wonder if the TNT Championship will be equivalent to a Television Championship.

AEW Announces Inaugural “TNT CHAMPIONSHIP” Tournament Beginning April 8 on AEW: DYNAMITE

— Eight-Man, Single-Elimination Tournament Culminates with Final Match at DOUBLE OR NOTHING in Las Vegas —

March 30, 2020 – AEW announced its first-ever “TNT CHAMPIONSHIP,” a high-stakes, eight-man tournament which kicks off on Wednesday, April 8, on the weekly AEW: DYNAMITE show on TNT. The single-elimination tournament will feature the biggest names in AEW all vying for the inaugural TNT CHAMPIONSHIP belt.

Wrestlers in the first half of the tournament bracket will be revealed this Tuesday, March 31, on AEW’s YouTube show, AEW DARK. The second half of the bracket will be announced this Wednesday, April 1, during the live AEW: DYNAMITE show on TNT.

The TNT CHAMPIONSHIP will culminate with an epic final match at DOUBLE OR NOTHING, AEW’s highly anticipated PPV event on Saturday, May 23, in Las Vegas.

“It’s been a privilege working with Kevin Reilly and TNT to bring fans the best live wrestling show week after week on AEW: DYNAMITE, especially during these tumultuous times,” said Tony Khan, president and CEO of AEW. “I’m glad we’re now able to announce the TNT CHAMPIONSHIP. The first ever titleholder will be determined by an unforgettable tournament that fans will not want to miss, and that our wrestlers will be desperate to win. I’m excited for the announcement of the full bracket live on Dynamite this week. And, it’s only fitting that the champion and the title belt will carry the logo of the globally-respected TNT brand, and that they’ll represent not only AEW but also the great quality programming, massive reach, and storied history in the wrestling business that are all associated with TNT.”

31 March, 2020 0 comment

Business Featured Wrestling WWE

WWE Offers the Network for free

written by Ruben Jay

WWE announced the WWE Network is free. Not sure if this is as a permeant deal or just until the world gets back to normal.

WWE OFFERS FREE ACCESS TO WWE NETWORK

Beginning today, WWE is pleased to unlock a vast portion of the WWE Network library and extend free access to thousands of hours of extraordinary on-demand content, including every WrestleMania in history, countless pay-per-view spectaculars, original documentaries and more, for a limited time.

This unprecedented offering to WWE fans worldwide includes each epic installment to date of WrestleMania, plus, every Royal Rumble, SummerSlam and Survivor Series event; every NXT TakeOver and NXT UK TakeOver; and groundbreaking originals such as the entire WWE 24 docuseries, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions interview show, the recent five-episode hit, WWE Ruthless Aggression, and its 20-episode predecessor, The Monday Night War series.

Also included:

Recent episodes of Monday Night Raw
Recent episodes of Friday Night SmackDown
Every episode of WWE Untold
A Future WWE: The FCW Story
Much, much more

We’ve already doubled down with an historic WrestleMania this year that’s Too Big for Just One Night, streaming on WWE Network next Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 7 ET/4 PT. The two-night WrestleMania event is only available to WWE Network subscribers.

Now, in the lead-up to The Show of Shows, you can relive classic matches, re-experience sports-entertainment’s defining moments and celebrate WWE’s greatest Superstars, past and present. Just create your account and stream on your favorite device.

Start watching for free NOW at watch.wwe.com!

23 March, 2020 0 comment

Business Featured

Dear Steaming Services, You should waive your fees while we are quarantined

written by Ruben Jay

Dear Netflix, Disney +, Hulu, HBO, etc,

We, as a nation and as a global people, are facing uncertain circumstances. We turn to you for assistance in this time. Before I make my request known, I would like to say “thank you” for your years of faithful service.

Now, I come to you with a simple request: Waive your fees while America (and the world) suffers from this massive Coronavirus outbreak. America is hurting right now and while I believe that we will recover from this eventually, it would be nice to know that the $5-15 a month we pay you each would not be taken out of our accounts.

Should you do this, we (Americans), will forever love you and eternally hold you in high regard.

Sincerely,

A Concerned American.

Okay, but in all honesty, these streaming services should really consider waiving their fees for a few months as America reels and recovers. It would be nice to to have small mercies in the form of lockdown entertainment.

19 March, 2020 0 comment