WWE Being Sued By Stockholder For Internal Records Detailing WWE’s Ties To XFL, Additional Details
The re-launch of the XFL is set to begin in February, but now, it appears a WWE stockholder is taking legal action against WWE due to a belief that Vince McMahon and other top officials diverted resources from WWE to the XFL.
According to Bloomberg Law, there was a lawsuit filed on December 26, 2019, in Delaware Chancery Court by an Oklahoma firefighters pension fund which claims that there is “a credible basis to believe” that the WWE chairman and other top senior officers that WWE breached their duties to WWE investors by diverting valuable resources to the resurrected football league. It is also suggested within the lawsuit that the company’s board members may have failed to conduct the proper oversight to make sure that Vince McMahon did not engage in transactions that would conflict with the interests of WWE.
The Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System reportedly owns 107 shares of WWE stock.
David Bixenspan of Forbes provided additional details on the lawsuit, noting that the following complaints were listed in the suit:
* Did Alpha Entertainment, the XFL’s parent company, which is wholly owned by Vince McMahon, pay fair market value to WWE for the intellectual property of the original XFL, which included giving WWE a percentage of the company?
* Is Alpha paying WWE fair market value for the support services that WWE is providing as part of that deal?
* Was the XFL revival announced before the deal was completed?
* In general, did McMahon and WWE, including WWE’s lawyers, act in a way that was not in WWE’s best interests?
The suit also tries to get to the bottom of the reported $50 million offer AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol made Vince McMahon for the XFL intellectual property. Ebersol denies making the offer.
The XFL was launched by Alpha Entertainment, which is a new entity started by Vince McMahon for projects outside of the WWE umbrella. As of now, the XFL is the only announced venture by Alpha Entertainment.
The XFL already has television deals in place with ESPN, Fox Network, Fox Sports, and ABC Network.
