CEORater CEO of the Week: Vince McMahon (WWE, XFL)

Vince McMahon's CEORater Profile: https://www.ceorater.com/ceo/412/399/Vince-McMahon YouTube version of this podcast episode: https://youtu.be/aO0lJLF51jo CEORater CEO of the Week April 11th 2020 Prepared Remarks: Welcome to the inaugural CEORater “CEO of the Week”. Our first “CEO of the Week” is WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. This is as much a memorial as it is a celebration because Vince McMahon buried his XFL on Friday – Good Friday no less. This was version 2.0 of the XFL. It was killed not by poor ratings or fan indifference, rather by the Coronavirus. XFL 2.0 was funded entirely by Vince McMahon who sold approximately $270 million of WWE stock on March 27th 2019. At the time, speculation was that McMahon was positioning himself to purchase the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. The Panthers were sold to David Tepper, founder of hedge fund Appaloosa Management. McMahon wasn’t interested in acquiring the Panthers however. McMahon took the world by surprise on January 25th 2018 when he held a press conference announcing the return of the XFL – version 2.0. For those who are not familiar, XFL v1.0’s inaugural season took place in 2001 after the conclusion of the NFL season. The original incarnation of the XFL was a partnership between the then WWF (now WWE) and NBC, which was then part of GE. Version 1.0 of the XFL was sort of a cheesy production, it had a professional wrestling over-the-top promotional feel to it. Ratings dropped off each week before NBC pulled out of the partnership during the inaugural season. ESPN did a 30 for 30 on that initial season which we have linked to in show notes. XFL 2.0 was very different. It was a serious football league with a promotional strategy that focused on the game and on-field play rather than sensationalism. XFL 2020 was fairly popular from a ratings standpoint. The league was even more popular from a live gate standpoint. Game attendance grew each week. XFL 2020 also had some exciting in-game innovations. So… why is Vince McMahon worthy of being named CEORater “CEO of the Week”? After all, he presided over a “failed” football league – twice… Well, McMahon is an entrepreneur and risk taker. If you follow us you know that CEORater celebrates entrepreneurs and risk takers. We respect their ingenuity, their resourcefulness, their toughness and grit. McMahon placed a material amount of skin in the game, he did not rely on Other People’s Money. Therefore, rather than poke fun at McMahon and the XFL, we choose to celebrate the spirit of an entrepreneur who was willing to revisit a past failure in an attempt to make it right. Were it not for the great destroyer of health and value known as the Coronavirus, McMahon very well may have led this latest incarnation of the XFL to the endzone. And for that, we declare Vince McMahon as CEORater’s first “CEO of the Week.” “This Was the XFL” ESPN 30 for 30 link: https://youtu.be/MVTi1g1MTOg