The United States Army reportedly spent a fortune on Dwayne Johnson’s UFL, but it didn’t work out well for the military branch. Military.com reports that the U.S. Army spent $11 million on the UFL with the hope of driving up enlistments. Despite this mammoth effort, the “high-dollar, high-profile deal likely didn’t lead to a single new Army recruit. In fact, the partnership was so poor that it “may possibly have had a negative impact on finding new enlistments” according to internal documents and emails.
The deal between the UFL and the Army was supposed to feature Johnson as a “pseudo brand ambassador” with social media posts by WWE’s Final Boss valued at $1 million each. It’s reported that the Army expected five posts, but Johnson only made two posts. The deal also included UFC players wearing Army branding during games.
In a statement, Laura DeFrancisco, a spokesperson for the Army’s marketing end said “We are in the process of working with the UFL to determine the final cost.” The Army is seeking to regain $6 million of its $11 million payment into the partnership.
The UFL was launched in December 2023 following the merger of the XFL and the USFL. Johnson, alongside business partner Dany Garcia, purchased the XFL in 2020 after Vince McMahon’s attempt to revive the league was snuffed out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This failed partnership with the Army does not reflect well on Johnson, who has faced a series of business shortfalls in recent years, including Black Adam, a film he’d been closely tied to for years, bombing at the box office, and the cancellation of NBC’s Young Rock. It’s been reported that some in WWE believe Johnson’s return to WWE has been an effort to break a ‘losing streak’ by returning to an industry he knows he will be successful in.
