Army Wants Millions Back From UFL, The Rock

The Army is seeking to recoup millions from the United Football League and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson after the duo failed to live up to its end of a marketing deal, according to internal Army documents.

The documents were first reported by Military.com.

Internal documents reviewed by the outlet show the UFL co-owner made only two of the five social media posts the parties had agreed upon; the Army valued Johnson’s Instagram posts at $1 million each.

The deal mainly centered on Army promotion at UFL games including uniform logos. By the Army’s own metrics, it did not work, costing them 38 recruits. (It’s not clear how the Army came to that conclusion.)

Though the internal documents reported by Military.com said the marketing negatively impacted recruiting, an Army spokesperson denied that assessment in an email to Front Office Sports. “We won’t have a clear view of the results of the partnership or impacts to the Army’s financial investment until all marketing elements are complete,” a spokesperson for the Army’s enterprise marketing office wrote.

Now, the Army wants $6 million back from the league but is “in the process of working with the UFL to determine the final cost,” Army marketing spokesperson Laura DeFrancisco told Military.com. 

Army staff thought the deal was too high for the inaugural league’s projected viewership, but it was green-lit by the branch’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, according to Military.com. One of Johnson’s two posts for the Army featured him with George, referring to the general and other top-ranking officials as his friends. Both posts were in April.

“In terms of The Rock, it’s unfortunate he was pulled away at a time when we expected him to be present with us to create content for his social media channels,” a spokesperson for George, Col. Dave Butler, told Military.com in a statement. “But we’re working with the UFL to rebalance the contract. The Rock remains a good partner to the Army.”

The UFL and a representative for Johnson did not respond to FOS’s requests for comment.

The UFL played its first season this year after merging the XFL and the USFL. Its championship game in June averaged nearly 1.6 million viewers on Fox. Johnson purchased the XFL along with his former wife and business partner, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners for $15 million in August 2020. The league had filed for bankruptcy in April of that year. Johnson, Garcia, and RedBird now share 50% ownership of the UFL. The other half is owned by Fox.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is an investor in Front Office Sports.