Tag: TKO

Tony Khan, Nick Khan & several TKO executives recognized as Variety ‘Dealmakers’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: JJ Williams

Pro wrestling was well-represented in this year’s ‘Dealmakers’ list by entertainment publication Variety.

Announced on Wednesday, AEW head Tony Khan, WWE president Nick Khan, and several TKO executives (Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and Andrew Schleimer) were named to the list which recognizes major players and deal makers in the entertainment business.

Khan was actually the first name listed in the feature and made it based on the new “reported $185 million a year” multi-year deal he signed with WBD to keep Dynamite and Collision on TBS/TNT in addition to being simulcast on Max.

The article also stated, “The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world.” They did not cite their source for the valuation.

A quote from Khan touted that AEW will be “the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events weekly on top cable channels and a top streaming platform.”

Nick Khan and the TKO executives were all listed in their own blurb, citing the massive decade-long $5.2 billion deal they signed with Netflix for WWE content. There were no quotes from Khan and just a relatively boilerplate note from Schleimer on “the downstream impact and ancillary benefits to being with the distributor and just south of 300 million homes globally was something that got us very excited.”

TKO exec: There is ‘absolutely an opportunity’ for more two-day WWE PLEs

Posted on by Josh Nason

The possibility of TKO expanding more WWE premium live events to two days is on the table, according to TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro.

Shapiro made the comment when he was asked during a Monday appearance at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference, saying “There’s definitely an opportunity for that. It’s all a progression, a natural evolution.” he said.

He added that expanding depends on the partner involved and that they are in a good place with their storylines in how they weave through the year.

While WrestleMania expanded to two nights starting with WrestleMania 36 in 2020, other events had yet to follow suit. That was until the announcement of the first-ever two night SummerSlam for both New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium in August 2025 and for Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium in August 2026.

Other notes from Shapiro’s talk:

  • Shapiro said he will be in Los Angeles for the Raw kickoff on Netflix in addition to on-screen talent like CM Punk, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, musician Travis Scott and “a few other surprises.”
  • Shapiro said he’s not worried about January 6th, but is thinking about June and July when WWE is “not the shiny toy” for Netflix anymore and how WWE will be treated by the streaming provider. He said he isn’t really that worried and continuously put Netflix over for how they have been thus far, emphasizing they will be in business with each other for the next ten years.
  • He remained positive on their relationship with NBCUniversal, Comcast and Peacock, saying he thinks their upcoming PLE package rights will lend itself to “more suitors” than perhaps the UFC TV rights will because they are low volume with a high premium being once a month. He said they have flexibility with being able to schedule events with their partners depending on what is of strategic interest to them.
  • Site fees for WWE and UFC shows will remain a key focus, but he doesn’t expect to have them all taken care of by the end of 2025.

JNPO wrestling year in review series: WWE’s newsworthy & nightmarish January

Posted on by Josh Nason

For WWE in January, it was the best of times and the worst of times.

That and more kicks off my third annual Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series where I do 12 episodes covering all the news and happenings for WWE, AEW, TNA, Japan and everything else that made headlines.

Helping me kick things off with January 2024 is Rich Fann of PWTorch and POST Wrestling fame.

Among our topics:

  • Janel Grant sues Vince McMahon for sex trafficking, sexual assault and sexual abuse which resulted in McMahon resigning from his TKO leadership post and a lot of fallout
  • WWE announcing a megadeal with Netflix to bring Raw to the streaming service
  • The Rock announced as joining the TKO board and also beginning his insertion into the WrestleMania 40 main event scene
  • TNA officially rebranded itself and kicked off a new era
  • NJPW began to prepare for a massively transitional new year with two big stars preparing to leave
  • The other AEW, WWE and news from other smaller promotions

Join me here twice a week as I continue the series with new guests. Did I forget anything from the month? Let me know.

Click here to listen

Update on Vince McMahon’s TKO stock ownership

Posted on by Josh Nason

As mentioned during an interview last week, Vince McMahon remains as a TKO shareholder with an SEC regulatory filing Thursday showing just how much he still owns.

In an SEC 13G filing, McMahon’s current allotment sits at 8,021,405 shares as of September 30th of this year. The reason for the filing is that he exceeds 5% ownership of a specific class of stock which requires disclosure. In this case, his shares account for 9.88% of class A stock but his portion of all TKO shares remains under 5%. He has no voting rights.

In a talk with CNBC, TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro noted he had breakfast with the former TKO chairman recently “just to check in” following the recent Netflix docuseries drop. He said he hadn’t heard from McMahon at all and “wanted to see where he was” with everything. During that interview, he said McMahon still was a stockholder but was not involved in any TKO business, nor was he asked his opinion on anything. He said McMahon “couldn’t have been more positive” about the direction of WWE, but specifically said he wasn’t asked for his opinion.

McMahon remains under federal investigation following the Wall Street Journal exposed hush money scandal with the current sexual misconduct lawsuit against him by Janel Grant put on pause as the federal case continues.

Reports recently emerged that McMahon is preparing to launch an entertainment company that includes several former WWE executives.

Legalized betting on WWE matches is ‘not happening’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While the sports gambling industry continues to grow in the United States, WWE won’t become part of it in the immediate future.

TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro told CNBC on Thursday that legalized betting on WWE matches in the U.S. will not be happening. It had been reported in 2023 that WWE was interested in making it legal to bet on high-profile matches. The company had talks with state gambling regulators, but — if the idea was going to become reality — WWE would have had to take steps like working with a firm to lock in match results well ahead of time and ensure they did not leak.

“Not happening,” Shapiro said. “It’s not happening. We’re scripted. Look, years ago I ran Dick Clark Productions. We had enough challenge keeping the American Music Awards and the Golden Globe winners under wraps [even] with an auditor that was there. We’re not going to be asking Triple H — Paul Levesque, who runs our creative — to keep his scripts so under wrap that we can start sports betting. It just doesn’t jive.”

Shapiro said TKO is doing sports gambling with the UFC and believes the young audience — and young men specifically — loves the gambling aspect.

WWE and AEW have both had partnerships with sports gambling companies, but they have been free-to-play pools instead of standard betting.

TKO exec recently met with Vince McMahon, says he is very ‘positive’ about WWE’s current direction

Posted on by Josh Nason

A day after TKO announced their quarterly earnings, one of the company’s higher-ups said in a new interview that he has been in contact with Vince McMahon and that the former chairman is positive about WWE’s direction.

TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro talked with CNBC’s Alex Sherman and was asked about McMahon who is still under federal investigation for the hush money scandal in addition to the primary subject of the Janel Grant lawsuit.

Shapiro revealed he had breakfast with McMahon recently “just to check in” following the recent Netflix docuseries drop. He said he hadn’t heard from McMahon at all and “wanted to see where he was” with everything.

“He’s got some litigation that he’s working through, and frankly, he wants the privacy and the time to work through it which is great, because in the meantime we’re going to keep building TKO and WWE,” he said, later adding, “He couldn’t have been more cooperative. He couldn’t have been nicer. I mean, he was a total pro at breakfast, if you will.”

He reaffirmed that McMahon has nothing to do with TKO, makes no decisions, and is not asked for opinions even though he remains a shareholder. He said McMahon “couldn’t have been more positive” about the direction of WWE, but specifically said he wasn’t asked for his opinion.

As recently as March of this year, Shapiro went on record to say McMahon was not returning to TKO.

McMahon shut down PBR being part of TKO launch

Shapiro also revealed that McMahon didn’t want the Professional Bull Riding group in TKO upon the creation of the company. He wanted to focus on just WWE and UFC to start and “didn’t want to confuse the messaging.” He said McMahon wasn’t against PBR ever joining TKO (which it did two weeks ago an inter-company acquisition), but just not at the onset.

Shapiro said it was a compromise and that when it came to TKO, McMahon had to do some things Ari Emanuel, Dana White and Shapiro wanted and vice versa.

Ads on Netflix

Shapiro also said when it comes to Netflix advertising on WWE Raw, dynamic/personalized advertising (focused on users based on data vs. general broad ads) will be in place for year two but not year one. He said the manual advertising is already “filled up.” He also said Netflix could be in the mix for UFC TV rights when those come up next year.

WWE & UFC parent company acquires Professional Bull Riders, two other companies

Posted on by Josh Nason

TKO is bringing on several new properties already within the Endeavor family into their fold.

Announced Thursday morning, the parent company of WWE and UFC is acquiring Professional Bull Riders (PBR), On Location, and IMG from Endeavor in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.

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

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.

Subscriber exclusive: Dave Meltzer on the new ‘Ring Boy Scandal’ lawsuit

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Dave Meltzer has an article with details on a new lawsuit filed by survivors of the ‘ring boy scandal’ first reported in 1992. The lawsuit accuses Vince & Linda McMahon, as well as WWE, of negligence for not doing anything to prevent former ring announcer and head of ring crew Mel Phillips from sexually abusing underage boys.

Subscribers can read the article here.

Vince McMahon’s attorney responds to ‘Ring Boy Scandal’ lawsuit

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The attorney of Vince McMahon has responded to a new lawsuit filed on Wednesday.

McMahon’s attorney Jessica Rosenberg released a statement to Brandon Thurston denying the allegations filed by five survivors of the ‘ring boy scandal’ who are suing McMahon, Linda McMahon, and WWE/TKO claiming negligence on their behalf for doing nothing to stop sexual abuse of underage boys from Mel Phillips, who was both an announcer and head of the ring crew in the 1980s.

“More than 30 years ago, the columnist Phil Mushnick tried to make headlines with these same false claims,” Rosenberg’s statement reads. “Those allegations were never proven and ultimately became the subject of a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Mushnick. The negligence claims against Mr. McMahon that were asserted today rely on these same absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless statements by Mr. Mushnick. We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded.”

The ring boy scandal first became public in 1992. Phillips, Terry Garvin, and Pat Patterson were all fired from WWE due to the allegations, though Patterson was eventually hired back and remained part of the company until he died in 2020.

The lawsuit claims that the survivors, who were named John Does 1-5 in the suit, learned of the depth of knowledge the McMahons and WWE had regarding the abuse based on the lawsuit Janel Grant filed in January accusing Vince McMahon of sexual abuse and trafficking. That lawsuit is currently on pause as the Justice Department continues its investigation against McMahon.

Daily Update: TKO anniversary, AEW notes, ‘The Killer’s Game’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • WWE Bash in Berlin coverage, business, records, interest level, crossover buys with AEW and an overview of the show.
  • AEW All Out
  • NXT No Mercy coverage
  • The life and career of Villano V, son of one of the biggest stars in history, Ray Mendoza, his sons, formation of a promotion that became one of the  hottest in the world at the time, the background of Los Villanos from a movie, his run in WCW as enhancement talent, the legend of Villanos  vs. Brazos and Villano V vs Blue Panther in Mexican legacy and life after wrestling.
  • How Turki Alashikh is trying to change boxing on PPV, possible motives, and how AEW does on PPV is a key in analyzing this.
  • Kevin Kelly and the Tate Twins sue AEW, the most detailed look at the suit itself  what it means, and potential outcomes
  • The life and times of Sonny King,  wrestling all over the world, from early WWWF tag champion to Crockett headliner, when he was stabbed, his days as a manager, philosophy of wrestling, and more.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, demos,
  • segments placing and competition.
  • Chris Jericho talks about returning to Mexico
  • All kids of major events planned for Arena Mexico in upcoming weeks
  • Celebrity knocks company that used him and praises their opposition
  • Stardom Five Star Grand Prix finals
  • NOAH’s N-1 finals
  • Suzuki vs. Shibata in Japan
  • Honoring Yoshihiro Takayama and Don Frye talks
  • Three generations of superstars in one match
  • Nikki Bella/Garcia news coverage
  • Notes on movies and TV shows featuring current stars
  • Santo retirement tour
  • The Wrestling Combine
  • Rich Swanna going to rehab
  • TNA big show coverage
  • Lots more on All In business
  • Tony Khan press call
  • Health updates on wrestlers
  • Nigel McGuinness talks wrestling
  • Mark Henry had words regarding AEW and Tony Khan
  • International TV ratings
  • Sting’s son training for wrestling update
  • Highest merch sellers in WWE and AEW
  • UFC record gate coming
  • Fighter sues manager for embezzling $2 million
  • WWE television changes
  • More Janel Grant court issues
  • Firing of Odyssey Jones
  • Vince McMahon documentary
  • Lawsuit against WWE and Cody Rhodes
  • More people leaving WWE after decades with the company

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Thursday Update

WWE

  • Today marks one year since Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE became official and the company TKO Group Holdings (consisting of WWE and UFC) was formed. TKO shared a video with company president Mark Shapiro giving his perspective on the past year.
  • Cody Rhodes wished his wife Brandi a happy 11th wedding anniversary: “Invested in the worst stock she could possibly find(me) – been the most fun ten plus years of my life trying to prove her right. Happy Anniversary @TheBrandiRhodes”
  • Brandi tweeted: “Happy 11 years of marriage to the love of my life. My partner, best friend, greatest love and biggest supporter. No one compares to you! 11 and a lifetime more to go”
  • Dave Bautista was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, continuing the media tour for his new movie “The Killer’s Game.”
  • At the premiere for the movie, Bautista told Cathy Kelley how proud he is of Drew McIntyre for his acting performance and everything he’s accomplished in pro wrestling:
    • He did amazing. Like, people are going to be blown away by Drew in this. He’s so funny, and he’s just so charismatic. It was perfect. And I’ve known Drew for a very long time and we’ve stayed in touch well before this. I watched Drew grow up in this business. I’m super proud of him, man. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished.
  • McIntyre took part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session to promote the movie ahead of it being released in theaters this Friday.
  • Here’s the lineup for this Friday’s NXT Level Up episode:
    • Luca Crusifino vs. Niko Vance
    • Kendal Grey vs. Tyra Mae Steele
    • Cutler James & Shiloh Hill vs. Uriah Connors & Kale Dixon

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • AEW uploaded post-Dynamite promos from Will Ospreay & Kyle Fletcher, Ricochet, The Acclaimed, and Grizzled Young Veterans.
  • Ricochet shared a brief moment reuniting with his friend and trainer Chuck Taylor during the post-show promo. Last night’s Dynamite took place in Kentucky, where Ricochet and Taylor are both from. Taylor is working behind the scenes in AEW right now but hopes to return to the ring in the future despite dealing with a career-threatening ankle injury.
    • “This is nuts, man,” Taylor told Ricochet. “I’m so happy you’re here, man. It’s great to see you.”
    • “That’s awesome. Chuck Taylor, bro. Literally my first day of training, he was there to help me out. And he’s been there basically my whole career,” Ricochet said. “So, to answer your question, once again, it feels awesome to be here. All Elite Wrestling – where the best come to wrestle. And not only that, but I have so many friends in the back, it honestly feels like home to me. So I’m just ready for the future and what I’ve got to do here in All Elite Wrestling.” 
  • In her Mone Mag, Mercedes Mone wrote about attending the premiere for “The Killer’s Game”:
    • Yes, after multiple pay-per-views I was tired, but I prioritized supporting my friends, including my wrestle friends. And you know why? Because my wrestle friends have always supported me. Whether wrestling for New Japan in my first appearance post-WWE or my debut at AEW, the likes of Naomi, Bayley, Tamina, and others were there for me. It’s never easy for them with their schedules and with their own jobs but there they were – and there I’ll be!
    • So, when I got the invite for the premiere of The Killer’s Game starring my friend Drew McIntyre, you bet I was gonna be there to support. Ditto for Bayley, who also flew in. It’s always great to see Pam (Bayley), even in these quick spurts. Along with seeing her and Drew, I got to see another old friend, Cathy Kelley, who looked as beautiful as ever doing her thing. I hope this opportunity elevates Drew to additional outside opportunities. Regardless, he is starring in a big movie, and for that he should be so proud.
  • Willow Nightingale named Lee Moriarty, Bryan Danielson, and Eddie Kingston as dream opponents if she could have an intergender match in AEW.
  • Adam Copeland told AMNY that he and his wife Beth Phoenix are considering the idea of opening a wrestling school:
    • One thing we have talked about is maybe starting a type of finishing school, where, if there are people within the industry that feel like they’re just missing a little something, [well] come on down to Asheville because you got FTR, you got me, and you got Beth Phoenix. We’re debating that and then just seeing if that’s a time commitment that we even have at this stage.
  • Jake Something will compete for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling at the promotion’s debut weekend on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20.
  • 90 Day Fiance star Paola Mayfield is joining Women of Wrestling for their new season.
  • Matthew Justice vs. Jesus Rodriguez in a Barrio Brawl has been added to the TV taping portion of MLW’s Fightland event in Atlanta this Saturday.
  • Actor Stephen Amell appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.

WWE to hold fewer live events in 2025, potentially increase ticket prices

Posted on by Josh Nason

On the eve of their first anniversary after merging both WWE and UFC into the publicly-traded TKO, the brand’s president revealed some news on the live event front for WWE fans.

The full audio for the call can be found below.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference Wednesday, Shapiro said they are continuing to trim “marginally profitable” non-televised live events that Vince McMahon liked to run when he was trying to expand the brand name in smaller cities and regions.

Going from what Shapiro said was 300 events in 2023, he said they will put on 250 shows this year and then drop down to “close to 200” in 2025 in the effort of “margin expansion” which is financial speak for an increase in a company’s profit rate.

He did not specify whether the 200 number included NXT shows as well.

As he has done in the past, Shapiro said that they remain underpriced on WWE tickets and joked that he yells at the WWE team about not making prices higher when they are selling out so fast. He mentioned they didn’t have dynamic pricing tools in the past, indicating the trend of ticket prices increasing as demand increases that has taken over the concert industry could be coming to WWE.

He said with the current Peacock deal for their PLEs/archive content coming up in 2026, they feel “incredible” about that deal coming up and that it’s “beautiful” they have all the deals in place for Raw, SmackDown and NXT, putting over Netflix strongly as a “battleship” that will help them grow their brand and audience.

On the PLE deal, Shapiro said the 12 monthly events are “exciting and that people know” all about the shows. He said the WWE fanbase is a casual sports fan, an entertainment fan, lots of women, and very, very young. He said they are in a “really strong place” and plan on doing a lot of listening with all the potential suitors for the PLEs.

**********

Shapiro also talked about the impending UFC TV & PPV rights negotiations that are coming up in 2025. He revealed that the exclusive negotiating window with ESPN/Disney is between January 15 through April 15 and that their preference is to re-sign with the incumbent.

He said there have been no negotiations with ESPN as of now and that other platforms remain interested in having conversations about UFC programming. He reiterated they are going to remain flexible with the negotiations and with any partners who align with what they are trying to do like grow revenue in addition to both the audience and brand.

That extends to what they do with pay-per-views and revealed that Dana White initially didn’t like releasing control of sales to ESPN as he loves being a promoter. Shapiro said when it comes to either splitting the package or taking PPV sales back in house, they are up for all of it.

Click here to listen (no sub needed)

WWE parts ways with longtime lead production designer, director of production travel

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE continues to cull their front office staff in the TKO era with their lead production designer joining their director of production travel on the unemployment line.

First reported by PWInsider, lead production designer Jason Robinson has either left the company as of this past weekend or is finishing up after more than 23 years with WWE.

He is notable for having “a hand in creating just about every modern major event and television set you could think of” according to the report, adding that Robinson was considered a “Kevin Dunn guy.”

The departure follows the layoff of Michele Carlucci this past Friday. Carlucci was the company’s director of production travel and had been within WWE since 1988. She was in her final role since 2019 after spending the prior 14 years as director of the freelance crew, travel & special projects.

Robinson and Carlucci are among a long list of executives who are no longer with the company as of this year for various reasons including the aforementioned Dunn, former president Frank Riddick, chief operating officer Brad Blum, executive vice president of live events John Porco, executive vice president of WWE TV Chris Kaiser, executive VP of development & digital Jamie Horowitz, executive vice president of HR Suzette Ramirez-Carr, executive vice president of talent relations Dan Ventrelle, senior vice president of athlete ID & development Trent Wilfinger, vice president of talent relations operations Kristin Altman, vice president of international events Michael Levin, and senior director of TV event relations Steve Rubin.

Wrestling Observer Radio: The storied pro wrestling career of Kevin Sullivan

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back with Wrestling Observer Radio going over the big stories in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

We talked about the passing of Kevin Sullivan, which was reported right after Dave finished this week’s issue.

Then, we got into the following:

  • TKO Q2 results
  • What to take away from AEW’s Dynamite rating
  • Low ticket sales for the Grand Slam show
  • Young Bucks
  • Lucha Bros’ interest in WWE
  • Ricky Starks
  • G1 Climax 34
  • Olympic wrestling update

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube (video sub needed)

TKO Q2 financial notes: WWE revenue, ticket prices, UFC piracy & PPV cost issues

Posted on by Josh Nason

The parent company of WWE & UFC had such a successful second quarter that they increased their targeted revenue for the year.

On Thursday, TKO released their Q2 financial statements followed by an investors call that featured comments from the usual company leadership with some nods to what might be coming pricing-wise down the line for consumers.

The new revenue target for the year is $2.745 billion, up from the originally forecasted $2.67 billion.

Overall company revenue increased to $851.2 million thanks to big quarters from WWE ($456.8 million) and UFC ($394.4 million), up from $629.7 million in Q1.

The quarterly revenue increase of $46.5 million by WWE was driven by increases in live event revenue, media rights and content revenue. Ticket sales revenue helped the live events portion while the addition of one PLE in the quarter helped in all areas. They noted third-party original programming revenue was down due to “timing of delivery” and their consumer products revenue was flat due to an increase in video game license revenue being offset by their transition of live event merch sales to Fanatics.

The UFC revenue increase of $89.2 million was driven by increases in media rights & content ($38.9 million), live events ($36.7 million) and sponsorship ($15.5 million). They noted they held one more “numbered event” and that their media rights fees contractually escalated in addition to “higher site fee revenues.”

The UFC class action lawsuit was mentioned in their release and on the call, not straying too far from their original statements when the presiding judge would not accept the initial settlement. They believe the judge erred in making his ruling and while they are prepared to go to court on both cases, they are evaluating all their options including new settlement talks.

Call notes:

  • Asked about further optimizing ticket prices for WWE, TKO president Mark Shapiro said they haven’t seen any pushback and that site fees are a huge growth sector for them, sponsorship is great, and rights fees are great for both WWE and UFC.
  • He made a point to say “don’t underestimate the Netflix play” in growing WWE worldwide in that it’s all about discovery and new viewers due to WWE being featured on the home screen when viewers log on. He said that is “a whole new audience for us” and expects it to help drive both site fees and sponsorship increases.
  • While initially forecasting $100 million in cost savings when the merger happened, TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said they now expect to exceed that, citing efficiencies gained thus far by cutting “superfluous” production costs and making some shows “smaller.” That comment is believed to be related to using smaller sets for some PLEs which allows for more tickets to be sold and less setup/breakdown costs.
  • In an interesting comment, Shapiro said their UFC piracy numbers are “jacked up” due to ESPN becoming a bit too aggressive with their PPV pricing. He said he and Dana White talked to ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro about that and that ESPN was receptive, and some changes with discounting for early buys has appeared. He also said they are sustaining their buys.
  • Shapiro said TKO head Ari Emanuel has a big focus on “festivalizing” their events and making them more multi-day cultural events, something municipalities and cities are saying they want more of. He mentioned wanting to pit cities against each other to bring them in, citing the Las Vegas vs. Minnesota fight for WrestleMania 41 that saw the former up their offer to secure it.
  • Schleimer said the UFC received a $20 million site fee for the company’s debut in Saudi Arabia in June and that there was a “meaningful fee” attached to UFC 302 from Newark, New Jersey.
  • Asked about consumer trends for both brands, they aren’t seeing any slowdown, crediting the creativity and matchmaking by Dana White and Paul Levesque. Shapiro said demos are strong, age group is strong, and the Hispanic market has picked up which they are trying to grow.
  • He said they are watching their ticket pricing but probably aren’t being as aggressive with WWE as they should be and mentions using some dynamic pricing with some venues.

Other notes:

  • Vince McMahon was in TKO’s 10-Q filing as well with two separate stock purchases agreements by TKO, one on April 4th that purchased 1,642,970 shares from McMahon for $146.2 million and another on April 7th for 1,853,724 shares at $165 million.
  • In the first half of the year, Dwayne Johnson earned $6.7 million and $15.7 million worth of restricted stock units (RSUs) in two transactions as part of his $30 million agreement with TKO. He also earned a combined $700,000 in royalties and incurred $3.1 million in “certain travel expenses associated with delivering services” in the first six months of which $400,000 was paid back to him.

Wrestling Observer Radio: UFC class action lawsuit, AEW TV rights landscape

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back with Wrestling Observer Radio going over the big stories in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

First, John Nash joined us to talk about the UFC class action lawsuit.

Then, Dave and I talked about the following:

  • Shane McMahon
  • Britt Baker’s suspension
  • SummerSlam
  • AEW TV deal landscape
  • MJF in CMLL
  • Goldberg’s comments about Tony Khan
  • AEW Dynamite ratings
  • The Hardy Boyz
  • Bob Backlund
  • Venu

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube (video sub needed)