Sidley represented Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his business partner Dany Garcia, and various of their affiliates in the merger of the XFL with the United States Football League (USFL) to launch a new professional spring football league known as the United Football League (UFL). The new league will include eight teams from the XFL and USFL, and is scheduled to start play in March 2024. This representation comes on the heels of the firm’s representation of this same group (in partnership with RedBird Capital Partners) in acquiring the XFL out of bankruptcy in 2020.
The Sidley team was led by Entertainment, Sports and Media (ESM) co-chair Matt Thompson, and included partners Emily Zipperstein (ESM/M&A) and Vijay Sekhon (Private Equity), along with senior managing associate Felipe Ruiz Ricagni (ESM/M&A) and managing associate Tracy Smith (ESM/M&A).
