Tag: TKO

Linda McMahon files motion to dismiss ring boy lawsuit

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Linda McMahon is attempting to dismiss the ring boy lawsuit.

According to Post Wrestling, McMahon filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Monday. Her attorneys argued that she has no significant connection to the state where the suit was filed, Maryland, only briefly renting an apartment in the state from 1970 to 1972 and may have briefly held a wrestling license in Maryland back in 2004.

The filing also says that she has never communicated or met the five individuals who filed the lawsuit. Last week, Judge James K. Bredar approved an order allowing the defendants (Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, TKO, and WWE) to receive information about the anonymous individuals including their names, birth dates, and their current addresses.

“Until this lawsuit, I was unaware of their allegations against me or anyone else named in the complaint,” she states in a written decleration.

She also distanced herself from having any responsibility for Mel Phillips’ actions.

“I never personally supervised Phillips while he was employed by WWE, nor did I direct his activities,” she wrote. “Phillips never acted as my agent. If Phillips traveled to Maryland and committed acts of sexual abuse while in Maryland, it was certainly not at my direction nor with my knowledge.”

“I never personally employed any ‘Ring Boys,’ as that term is defined in the Complaint,” she further added.

Filed last October, the lawsuit accuses the defendants of knowing and ultimately doing nothing to to prevent ring announcer and head of ring crew Mel Phillips’ sexual assault of underage boys. Phillips was fired by WWE in 1992 after allegations became public. 

The suit was briefly delayed in December as the Maryland Supreme Court decided if the law that allowed the lawsuit, the Maryland Child Victims Act, was constitutional. The case moved forward after the court allowed the law to remain in place.

Orlando Sports Commission seeking $18 million to bid for future WWE & UFC events

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Orlando is looking to score several shows under the TKO umbrella.

The Orlando Business Journal reported Tuesday that the Greater Orlando Sports Commission is looking to attract both WWE and UFC in the near future by proposing an $18 million grant to obtain events from both companies. Events proposed under the bid include:

  • A Survivor Series or Saturday Night’s Main Event show in November or December of 2026 at the Kia Center.
  • A UFC pay-per-view event in August or September 2027 at the Kia Center.
  • A Royal Rumble event for February 2028 at Camping World Stadium
  • A two-night WrestleMania event in mid-to-late April 2031. Camping World Stadium would serve as the main venue while the Kia Center would also host events. This would also include Raw and SmackDown shows during WrestleMania week.

The grant has been advanced by the Tourist Development Tax Sports Incentive Committee and will next go in front of Orange County for approval. According to the report, the events would bring a projected total of 300,000 attendees, 120,000 room nights, and more than $225 million in economic impact for the city.

WrestleMania 41 will take place next month in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was announced last month that WrestleMania 42 will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Vince McMahon makes public appearance at NBA game

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Former WWE CEO and chairman and TKO executive chairman Vince McMahon made a rare public appearance at an NBA game on Monday night.

McMahon was courtside for Monday’s Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks regular season game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’s the second public appearance at a sporting event in recent months for McMahon, who was also at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans last month.

A chyron on the Miami telecast of the game identified McMahon as “former wrestling promoter.”

McMahon is currently being sued and accused of sexual assault, sex trafficking, and physical and emotional abuse in a civil lawsuit filed by a former WWE employee. The lawsuit filed in January 2024 sparked a federal criminal investigation into McMahon, one that his attorneys say is over. The civil lawsuit is still ongoing.

In January 2024, McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE and UFC. He has since been laying the groundwork for a new entertainment company.

Rumors last month indicated that McMahon’s new company could produce a new wrestling promotion that would air on Fox, the former home to WWE SmackDown. The rumors were sparked after McMahon attended the Super Bowl, which aired on Fox, and after McMahon’s new company was said to have been looking to hire camera operators who had experience shooting wrestling. Fox denied any involvement in a potential new promotion.

March 10, 2025 Observer Newsletter: John Cena turns heel, full WWE Elimination Chamber recap

Posted on by F4W Staff

Subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter with a lead story of, what else, the surprising and shocking heel turn of beloved babyface John Cena.

Dave Meltzer recaps the show-closing angle and all the news coming out of last Saturday’s Elimination Chamber from Toronto including the path to WrestleMania 41.

Dave also looks at the latest TKO investment as they are officially moving into boxing, this Sunday’s AEW Revolution, the happenings in both Japan and Mexico, UFC results, and plenty more.

Click here to read because reading is your friend.

WOR: AEW Dynamite & NXT recaps, TKO gets into boxing, NJPW news

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Image: AEW

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the new TKO boxing endeavor, New Japan Cup and their Anniversary show, a huge weekend of shows with WWE, AEW and UFC, Dynamite and NXT results, Collision spoilers, and tons more.

Plus, Bryan does math.

A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:
Start: Brian Knobbs update, TKO announces boxing venture
7:15: NJPW notes on anniversary show, NJPW Cup
9:55: Big weekend schedule
19:52: Ratings, including math
37:58: AEW Dynamite recap
59:00: WWE NXT recap
1:08:57: AEW Collision spoilers

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TKO officially launches new boxing promotion with Saudi Arabian partner

Posted on by Ian Carey

TKO has officially launched a new boxing promotion.

After months of speculation that a deal was nearly complete, UFC President Dana White, WWE President Nick Khan, and Saudi Royal Advisor His Excellency Turki Alalshikh confirmed the news on Wednesday.

The promotion will be a joint project of TKO and Saudi Arabian entertainment and hospitality company, SELA, with TKO handling the “day-to-day operational expertise, management, and oversight.” A name for the promotion has yet to be announced. Further details on fighters and events will be announced in the coming months.

The news was first revealed by Ring Magazine, which was purchased by Alalshikh last year.

“ANNOUNCED: Turki Alalshikh and TKO have signed a multi-year partnership to establish a new boxing promotion with executive leadership anchored by UFC President Dana White and WWE President Nick Khan. The new promotion will feature:

  • A highly structured system to develop new talent from around the world, including athlete combines and academies
  • Access for all boxers to the UFC Performance Institute, the world’s leading combat sports performance training, research, rehabilitation, and nutrition center
  • TKO’s production, media, and promotional expertise, to deliver both in-arena experiences and top-tier, state-of-the-art broadcasts to fans around the world
  • Further details about the new boxing promotion, including fighter signings, fight schedules, venues, and host locations, will be revealed in the coming months.”

TKO president and CEO Mark Shapiro said in a press release, “This is a strategic opportunity to reimagine the sport of boxing globally. TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”

Alalshikh said: “This landmark partnership between industry powerhouses sets the stage for an unparalleled experience for boxers and fans. Together, we are developing the next generation of talent and delivering world-class events at a time when the sport is primed for further disruption.”

TKO exec: Both WWE & NBCUniversal ‘keen’ on renewing PLE contract for Peacock

Posted on by Josh Nason

The word TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro used to describe the interest level between both WWE and NBCUniversal when it comes to renewing their Peacock deal was “keen.”

Appearing at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference Monday, Shapiro said that they will get into discussions in the next financial quarter with NBCUniversal regarding their existing deal that provides U.S. viewers with both WWE premium live event and archive access. The deal is up in March 2026.

The full audio from the call can be found below.

Shapiro said that NBCUniversal has been “a crazy good partner” that has made WWE a priority in their growth plan and that WWE has been great for Peacock in both acquistion and retention of subscribers.

However, he did say that while NBCU is “keen to renew” and that they are also keen to renew with them, “it might make sense to move elsewhere if the plan, not just the dollars, makes the best sense for the growth of our brand and the property.”

He was asked if it make sense for everything WWE to be available on Netflix and he said while it may make sense to split the UFC TV rights package as an option, they have “really enjoyed being with one home as long as they hit the price” with ESPN/Disney. He said with WWE, it’s a relatively small package of events (noting that it could be 12-14 PLEs in addition to six NXT PLEs) so it makes sense to keep it in one place but that depends on supply and demand.

He speculated that it would make sense for Netflix to own everything WWE, but he wasn’t pitching that and merely bringing it up as it’s out there as an idea. He said a common theme is programmers are looking for big events and “not regular season,” saying that WWE can “make noise when we want to make noise.”

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Here’s a few other notes from Shapiro’s talk:

  • He put over the Netflix deal and the early viewership success, specifically pointing to views as that is “most analogous to Nielsen,” Raw is up 13% year to date over USA and if you include the premiere, they are up 38%.
  • He said NXT is up 22% year to date on CW vs. USA.
  • Getting site fees for all 24 total WWE PLEs and UFC PPVs is still a focus over the next one-to-four years, saying that four are committed to Saudi Arabia which leaves them with 20 to sell. He noted they sell roughly about 1/3 of their inventory and are following the “F1 strategy on steroids” when it comes to doing that. After they sell those, they will move into selling Raws, SmackDowns and even NXTs. He noted those might not be at the highest level money wise, but pointed to examples like their upcoming WWE/UFC/PBR stretch in Kansas City as to what they can do.
  • If WWE fans were hoping for any type of relief from higher than usual WWE ticket prices, that doesn’t appear to something worth holding one’s breath over. Shapiro said they have “much more to go” on optimizing revenues for their schedule, nothing WWE has just got into dynamic pricing and that by reducing house shows, “scarcity drives demand which gives us more pricing power.”
  • There wasn’t much new on the UFC TV rights front other than that they hope to work something out with ESPN/Disney but their goal is to grow the sport and not necessarily go for the biggest money deal but one that will allow them to make the next deal after that even that much bigger.
  • Shapiro put over the “cultural impact” of John Cena turning heel and how it was featured on ESPN.
  • He added “you’ll be amazed at the surprises” that will come your way at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, comparing it to UFC’s event at the Sphere last year in terms of spectacle.

Click here to listen.

WWE returning to Western Australia for PLE as part of expanded multi-event TKO deal

Posted on by Josh Nason

Before the local government went into “caretaker mode” in early-February, TKO signed a multi-event deal to bring both WWE and UFC back to the state of Western Australia and specifically, Perth.

The news was revealed by The Western Australian Friday, who reported the deal is for five events over the next 18 months. TKO and the government had a deal for a UFC Fight Night event in Perth later this year that now includes four other events.

“It was signed before the State election writs were issued on February 5, putting provisions into effect that would bar the Government from entering a new multi-million dollar deal,” the outlet wrote, later adding, “The price tag is being kept under wraps but the State Budget includes $37 million to lure major events to WA.”

“The Government has previously defended the use of taxpayers money, revealing a Coldplay concert, WWE and the FIFA Women’s World Cup injected $105 million into the economy in 2023-24,” they wrote.

One of those events will be a WWE premium live event this year, buffered by SmackDown on Friday and Raw on Monday while the fourth event is a UFC pay-per-view in 2026. All shows will also be at the RAC Arena.

WWE last held a PLE in the country in February 2024 with Elimination Chamber from Perth’s outdoor stadium, drawing an announced 52,590. It was their first show in the country since 2018.

WWE parent company finalizes On Location, Professional Bull Riders & IMG acquisitions

Posted on by Josh Nason

The acquisition of Professional Bull Riders (PBR), On Location, and IMG by TKO — the parent company of WWE & UFC — is now complete.

First announced in October, TKO acquired the assets from Endeavor in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion. The finalized deal was announced Friday.

Ari Emanuel is the CEO of both Endeavor and TKO. The impetus of the transaction was the lead-up to Endeavor wanting to go private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake. As a result, they were looking to shed some of their assets.

While PBR doesn’t have a logical tie-in with either WWE or UFC, both On Location and IMG do.

The former is a premium event company that provides VIP experiences for more than 1200 sporting events including for the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four. TKO executive Mark Shapiro has spoken publicly in the past about wanting to increase those opportunities for both WWE and UFC who both currently use On Location.

IMG has many different business tentacles as they both distribute and produce sports content, handle media rights and brand partnerships, and offer digital services and event management. Clients include the NFL and NHL. Both WWE and UFC are listed under their current portfolio of clients.

PBR will be part of a TKO “takeover” weekend coming up in Kansas City that includes a PBR event Thursday, UFC Saturday and WWE on Monday all in the same T-Mobile Center in April.

TKO just held their quarterly investors call this week, reporting annual revenue of over $2.8 billion in their first full calendar year as an organization.

WOR: Vince McMahon, TKO finances, AEW and NXT

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including TKO finances and future plans, Vince McMahon is not starting a wrestling promotion, Dynamite and NXT TV reports, all the news and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: Don Coss passes away

3:14: WWE’s WrestleMania weekend schedule

6:03: TKO financials, more on TKO & boxing

16:26: Vince McMahon is not starting a wrestling company, Thunder Rosa attempts to explain Dynamite mishap

24:36: Ratings, Stardom notes, Queen of the Ring upcoming release

38:11: AEW Dynamite recap

57:48: WWE NXT recap

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WWE expecting to bring three PLEs to Saudi Arabia in 2026

Posted on by Josh Nason

Not only will WWE bring the Royal Rumble to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2026, but they are planning on two additional premium live events for the country that year as well.

During Wednesday’s TKO earnings call, TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said their guidance for investors in 2025 included one PLE in Saudi Arabia this year compared to two last year which “results in an unfavorable impact to our 2025 plan of approximately $55 million of total company revenue. We expect to host three PLEs in Saudi Arabia in 2026, including Royal Rumble.”

WWE confirmed in January that they would bring one of the “big four” PLEs to Saudi Arabia with next January’s Royal Rumble — the first-ever Rumble held outside North America and the first outside the United States since the inaugural one in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1988.

The Saudi relationship began in 2018 with two annual events with the exception of 2020 and 2021. The 2025 Saudi event has yet to be officially announced.

On the call, TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro said they are very close with the Saudis in beginning a boxing league that has been in the works for some time in which TKO would get equity and a fee from the Saudis for running it.

TKO releases full 2024 WWE & UFC financials, Raw on Netflix ratings discussed

Posted on by Josh Nason

To no big surprise, TKO had a hugely successful 2024 thanks to its main WWE and UFC cogs, announced Wednesday and expounded upon during their quarterly investors call.

TKO saw an annual revenue of just over $2.8 billion with a net income of $6.4 million buoyed by a fourth quarter that saw revenues of $642.2 million and net income of $47.5 million.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization) was $1.251 billion for 2024 with the fourth quarter finishing $238.1 million. EBITA is a metric that investors use to measure profitability.

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Breaking the two brands out, WWE saw yearly revenues of $1.398 billion while UFC had $1.406 billion. For the fourth quarter, WWE had $298.3 million in revenue (down nearly $33 million year-over-year) while UFC beat them out at $343.9 million (up by nearly $61 million).

WWE took a hit in the fourth quarter with a revenue decrease of $32.9 million, offsetting a $61.1 million increase on the UFC side. The reason for the WWE drop was the media rights dip as the company had no home for Raw in-between USA and Netflix, taking a smaller money deal from NBCUniversal to remain on USA through the end of 2024.

WWE media rights and revenue finished at $865.5 million for the year, live events finished at $338.5 million, sponsorship was $83 million with consumer products finishing at $111.1 million.

Comparing Q4 from 2023 to 2024, media rights took the biggest hit at $156.3 million, down from 2023’s $212.2 million due to the aforementioned deal they had to take from NBCUniversal. Live events (up by roughly $11 million), sponsorship (up by more than $7 million) and consumer products (up by nearly $5 million) did not experience drops.

TKO’s low net income (down from $175.7 million in 2023) was attributed to several factors including an increase in operating expenses to $679.6 million which “reflected the inclusion of twelve months of WWE activity in reported results in 2024 as well as settlement charges of $375.0 million related to the UFC antitrust lawsuit.” This is the first full year report TKO has had after officially forming in September 2023.

Q&A

  • Of specific note on the WWE side of the fence, TKO executive Mark Shapiro said on the Q&A portion of the call that the WWE/Peacock deal is up in March 2026.
  • He also said Raw is up 13% in viewership on Netflix from USA last year and that The CW is “seeing a great uplift from NXT.”
  • WWE president Nick Khan said that “all we’ve seen from Netflix is an appetite for more WWE” and that more ancillary programming “is cooking in the pipeline.”
  • Asked about the UFC TV rights deal, Shapiro said they are still talking with ESPN and are in the exclusive negotiating window with them.
  • TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said they expect Saudi Arabia to host three WWE PLEs in 2026 and one in 2025

UFC looking for more than $1 billion annually in new TV rights deal

Posted on by Josh Nason

One of the last big sports TV rights deals available for some time will come with a hefty price tag as the UFC is reportedly looking for more than $1 billion annually in their next TV rights package.

The number was reported by Bloomberg on Friday noting that in addition to ESPN, possible suitors include Netflix, Amazon, WBD, and YouTube for the pay-per-view component. ESPN & UFC/TKO are currently in their exclusive negotiating window that lasts through mid-April.

Splitting rights remains a possibility as TKO head Mark Shapiro has discussed in the past.

UFC is about to complete a five-year, $1.5 billion contract with ESPN at the end of this year. That includes the exclusive rights to offer UFC PPVs via their ESPN+ platform in addition to Fight Night events, The Ultimate Fighter, and access to library content.

It will be the second of three straight years of TV rights financial windfalls for TKO properties following the January 2025 kickoff of a 10-year, $5 billion worldwide deal between WWE and Netflix; a five-year, $1.4 billion domestic deal between WWE and NBC Universal that began in October 2024, and next year’s WWE domestic PLE/library rights currently on Peacock that comes up in March 2026.

TKO & Saudi Arabia reportedly set to launch boxing league

Posted on by Josh Nason

The TKO family may grow over the next few weeks as a report out Wednesday has the owners of WWE & UFC teaming up with Saudi Arabia to launch a new boxing league.

While rumors of TKO and the Saudis partnering up on boxing began in 2024, a New York Times report stated that a company owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund is “close” to creating a league with TKO featuring “up-and-coming boxers tied exclusively to the league” that could be announced at some point in the next few weeks.

WWE and the Saudis just announced that the Royal Rumble will be heading to the country in 2026 in the latest extension of their longtime relationship.

UFC head Dana White has long felt that boxing is broken and has wanted to do something about it, even teasing Zuffa Boxing years ago. TKO president Mark Shapiro said on a November investor call that if the company was to do something with boxing, it would be “in an organic way” and not by purchasing an existing entity.

Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alsheikh has been a key driver in bringing major boxing events to the country in recent years with a potential eye toward something like this.

According to the report, TKO would be a managing partner with the aforementioned Fund covering the investment. TKO would receive an equity stake and a revenue share.

The Rock awarded nearly $14 million worth of TKO stock

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

A great 2024 was made even better at year’s end for Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson.

A new SEC filing released on Friday night revealed that Johnson was awarded 96,557 Class A shares of TKO stock on December 31st as part of an arrangement made when he returned to WWE in late-January 2024, joining the TKO Board.

The allotment has a present day value of $13,749,716.80 (closing price of $142.40 per share).

The December 31st vesting equates to half of a total grant of 193,115 restricted stock units Johnson was given on January 23, 2024. The remaining allotment will be doled out monthly throughout 2025.

The filing states Johnson owns 289,673 total shares — good for over $41 million in present day value. He earned nearly 97,000 shares alone following his appearance at night one of 2024’s WrestleMania 40.

Johnson’s January return also included him gaining full IP ownership of “The Rock” name in addition to other character-related trademarks.

Johnson hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since last October’s WWE Bad Blood. It’s unknown if he will appear as part of WWE Raw’s debut on Netflix this Monday or what his participation will be for WrestleMania 41.