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Canadian Football League-XFL end partnership talks

XFL Wildcats Roughnecks Football
Posted at 8:32 PM, Jul 08, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-08 20:32:53-04

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian Football League's partnership talks with the XFL have ended.

In March, the CFL and XFL announced in a statement they were poised to begin serious talks about a potential partnership.

Neither side said who initiated talks, only that they'd agreed to collaborate on ways to grow football.

That came to an end Wednesday, with CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie saying: "While we remain open to finding new ways to work together in the future, we and our XFL counterparts have jointly decided to not pursue any formal arrangements at this time."

The CFL didn't play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's scheduled to begin a 14-game campaign on Aug. 5.

Training camps are slated to open Saturday.

The XFL, which was restarted in 2020 by former owner Vince McMahon, was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic five weeks into the season, USA Today reported.

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the league was sold in August 2020 to investors at RedBirdCapital Partners, which includes actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia for $15 million.

According to their website, the XFL plans to return in 2023.