McMahon plans to spend $500 million over first three years of XFL

More details have emerged on the finances of Vince McMahon’s XFL revival.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported today that McMahon has informed insiders that he expects to spend “closer to $500 million” over the football league’s first three seasons, which would be more than $160 million per year. That $500 million number is in comparison to the $100 million in WWE stock that McMahon sold last December to fund Alpha Entertainment LLC.

Alpha Entertainment has been positioned as a separate entity from WWE since the announcement of its formation and the official relaunch of the XFL.

“People were focused on the $100 million, but the truth is that doesn’t even get us to the 20-yard line,” XFL CEO and commissioner Oliver Luck told ESPN.

Luck noted that salaries for players and coaches will be their biggest cost, with salaries expected to be near $75,000 annually per player — though more well known athletes will earn more than that. Luck also said that they’d be spending over $10 million a year on a “broad-based insurance program” to cover the players’ injuries.

Luck was announced as the XFL’s CEO and commissioner earlier this month. He’s an experienced sports executive and most recently worked as the NCAA’s executive vice president of regulatory affairs.

The first season of the XFL revival is scheduled to begin in early 2020. They’ll face competition from Charlie Ebersol’s Alliance of American Football, which will be launching on CBS Sports in 2019.