Tag: WWE business

WWE touts business success of WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TKO has issued its annual press release touting the business success of WWE WrestleMania weekend.

Though down from recent heights, TKO says WrestleMania 42 was still among the highest-grossing events in company history. A gate figure was not provided, but the press release claims an attendance of 106,072 across the two nights. That’s down from the attendance number of 124,693 that WWE self-reported for WrestleMania 41 last year.

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosted both WrestleMania 41 and 42. Returning to the same city so soon is likely one of the reasons for the year-over-year attendance drop, with high ticket prices also playing a factor. WWE President Nick Khan, when asked about there being a downtick in business metrics, said the decreases are small and pointed to how WWE has focused on building for the future over the past year.

In the press release, TKO said WrestleMania 42 had record or near-record performances in sponsorship, merchandise, and digital metrics:

  • WrestleMania 42 featured a record 32 marketing partners, including Snickers, 2K, Riyadh Season, Ram, DoorDash, Wingstop, Wheatley American Vodka, Minute Maid, The General Insurance, PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer and Chumba Casino.
  • At WWE World, a five-day interactive fan experience in partnership with Fanatics, paid experience sales reached all-time highs. WWE World also featured a lounge for attendees who signed up for Club WWE, the recently announced Gold membership experience for fans.
  • Additionally, WrestleMania 42 set a new digital record, generating more than 1.3 billion views across all social platforms – up 18 percent from the record set at WrestleMania 41.

This was the first time WrestleMania aired on the ESPN app (in the United States). The first hour of each night was also simulcast on television. Full viewership is not available, but the press release highlighted the success of those TV simulcasts:

  • WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.

WrestleMania won’t be back in the United States until at least 2028, with Saudi Arabia set to host WrestleMania 43 next year.

TKO announces WWE & UFC Q3 revenue, Nick Khan ‘bullish’ on ticket pricing

Posted on by Josh Nason

It was another strong quarter for WWE and UFC’s parent company TKO who announced on Wednesday Q3 revenues of $1.12 billion and net income of $106.8 million for the three-month period.

WWE revenue specifically increased by $75.8 million to $402.1 million year-over-year thanks to the two-night SummerSlam and the creation of Wrestlepalooza, site fees and all. Increased ticket revenue & hospitality were up $31.4 million with media rights, production & content up $21.5 million from a year ago.

For the first nine months of the year, WWE is up $250 million year-over-year — just shy of $1.35 billion.

During the Q&A portion, WWE head Nick Khan said they remain “bullish” on their ticket price increases, saying they were appropriate for the marketplace and that the scarcity in U.S. shows with both their house show reduction & international expansion has been “a good thing for overall gains.”

On the UFC side of the coin, revenue was down slightly at $325.2 million year-over-year, down from last year’s Q3 total of $354.9 million. That was attributed to a decrease in media rights, ticket sales & hospitality, and partnership/marketing revenue. That’s driven by one less “numbered event” and the fact last year’s Q3 featured UFC Noche from The Sphere in Las Vegas which had Riyadh Season as a sponsor.

WWE revenue (pre-EBIDA):

Q3 2025 revenueQ3 2024 revenueYear-over-year increase/decrease
$402.1 million$326.3 million+$75.8 million
First nine months 2025 revenueFirst nine months 2024 revenueYear-over-year increase/decrease
$1,349.8 billion$1,099.8 billion+$250 million

Specific WWE financial segments:

ItemQ3 2025 revenueQ3 2024 revenueYear-over-year increase/decrease
Media rights, production & content$248.9 million$227.4 million+$21.5 million
Live events & hospitality$82.5 million$51.1 million+$31.4 million
Partnerships & marketing$39.9 million$21.7 million+$18.2 million
Consumer products licensing and other$30.8 million$26.1 million+$4.7 million
Total Revenue$402.1 million$326.3 million+$75.8 million

Notes:

  • The increase in live events and hospitality revenue was attributed to higher ticket sales revenue as well as an increase in site fees with both SummerSlam and Wrestlepalooza.
  • The increase in media rights, production and content revenue was attributed to higher rights fees for PLEs due to two additional nights of programming as compared to the prior year period.
  • The increase in partnerships and marketing revenue was primarily due to new partners and an increase in fees from renewals.
  • The $325 million per year WWE is receiving from ESPN for domestic PLE rights was also confirmed during the call.
  • There was positive toward Raw remaining in Netflix’s global top ten through the quarter in addition to SmackDown’s performance on USA during the quarter, specifically saying it led primetime cable ratings nine times in the period.
  • TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer referenced net costs of ending the Peacock PLE deal early, but didn’t offer specifics as to how much those were.

Q4 outlook & beyond:

  • It was noted that the financial benefits for the Netflix deal and ESPN domestic PLE rights agreement will be “significantly offset” by having two nights of PLEs this year vs. three last year with one PLE that took place in Saudi Arabia last year shifting to the first quarter of 2026 (Royal Rumble).
  • On site fees, Schleimer said 2026 will be “the beneficiary” of three events from Saudi Arabia. TKO’s Mark Shapiro said a team of six were focused on “dialing for dollars” with site fees.
  • To that end, Shapiro said “Raw has gained so much momentum” and said they were number one in 29-30 countries worldwide on Netflix. It’s unclear what he was referencing as that is not what the reported Tudum numbers are.
  • After the financial success of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford boxing event, they expect to do three major scale boxing events per year.
  • Shapiro said to expect announcements on two major deals with partners by the end of the year.
  • Asked about initial reaction to WWE PLEs and performance on ESPN, Nick Khan said they are thrilled with the start of it and put over the launch on Wrestlepalooza. He said they are patient and is confident about ESPN growing into things. Shapiro talked about how so many people are eventually going to get ESPN Unlimited access for free once ESPN works out deals with distributors like YouTube TV.

WWE announces new partnership with Playmobil toys

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has entered into a new partnership with Playmobil, a German company best known for making toys for young children.

The global licensing partnership was announced via a press release on Thursday. Launching across North America, Europe, and other international markets in July 2026, the first products will include Playmobil figures of Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and the late Hulk Hogan.

Playmobil touted this as “another milestone” in its strategic evolution. The toy brand is looking to reach new audiences by partnering with companies like WWE that have multi-generational fanbases. Playmobil hopes to bring the “thrill, drama and storytelling of WWE into the hands of children, families, and collectors worldwide.”

“At Playmobil, we believe in the power of imagination to unlock new worlds. By partnering with WWE, we are celebrating iconic Superstars who have inspired millions across generations, and we are connecting their stories with the creativity and imagination that are the heart of our brand,” said Playmobil CEO Bahri Kurter.

“This partnership is another step in our journey of meaningful collaborations that redefine the role of Playmobil in pop culture.”

This new licensing deal is in addition to the action figure partnership that WWE already has with Mattel.

Nick Khan reveals when WWE decided to enter the site fee ‘business’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Much like its corporate sibling in the UFC, WWE getting site fees and in-kind deals for bringing major events to a city has been a growing focus for both itself and parent company TKO, a topic referenced continually by TKO head Mark Shapiro.

This year alone, WWE will bring in $5 million for November’s Survivor Series in San Diego, California; $5 million in site fees & $4.2 million in tax credits for this year’s two-night WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, and $7.1 million for August’s two-night SummerSlam in New Jersey.

And then, there is the reported $100 million WWE/TKO will receive for bringing WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia in 2027, not to mention this January’s Royal Rumble.

Talking to Puck’s John Ourand as part of a bigger feature on UFC, WWE president Nick Khan revealed when that light bulb went off: when he learned UFC was getting roughly $3 million from Salt Lake City, Utah for an event.

“I looked at our current WrestleMania deal, and we were getting around $150,000 for WrestleMania, and what I call ‘posters around the city’ — otherwise known as value-in-kind. So we got an economic impact report, and got into the subsidy business,” he said.

WWE heads to Indianapolis, Indiana, this weekend for Wrestlepalooza. WWE signed a deal with the Indiana Sports Corp in June 2024, the financial terms of which have yet to be disclosed.

TKO announces WWE & UFC Q2 financials, insight on new ESPN deal & future opportunities

Posted on by Josh Nason

Wednesday marked a big day for TKO which started with the news of WWE’s premium live events moving to ESPN in 2026 and wrapped up with their Q2 financial call.

As a whole, TKO revenue finished at $1.308 billion — an year-over-year increase of 10% ($115.2 million). WWE’s revenue increased by $99.4 million to $556.2 million YOY while UFC increased to $415.9 million YOY off an increase of $21.5 million. TKO-owned IMG decreased by $13 million to $306.6 million YOY.

As expected, it was all positive regarding the aforementioned ESPN deal with the added potential value of shedding the contracted 250 hours of original programming in addition to five original documentaries and archive library they have to provide under the NBCU/Peacock deal. TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro and CFO Andrew Schleimer pointed to that fact in addition to their ability to sell rights to the NXT PLEs (six per year) in addition to their archive content.

In an interesting move, Shapiro and Schleimer clarified that the full total of the Peacock PLE deal was $900 million of total rights fees ($180 million AAV) and not the $1+ billion reported at the time of the deal nearly five years ago. That makes the increase look even better and potentially better if they can sell the rights to the aforementioned other content streams.

It was in this thread that Shapiro said “What made us feel ok walking away from Netflix…” before quickly saying he wasn’t suggesting they made an offer at any level.

That $900 million was first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day. Even though the initial Peacock deal was done prior to TKO ownership, the reason it was never corrected publicly was not addressed.

WWE Q2 Year over Year Revenue Breakdown

Item2025 Q22024 Q2YOY increase/decrease
WWE media rights, production and content$278.9 million$260.7 million$18.2 million+
Live events and hospitality$185.7 million$144.1 million$41.6 million+
Partnerships and marketing$58.3 million$24.7 million$33.6 million+
Consumer products licensing and other$33.3 million$27.3 million$6 million+
Totals$556.2 million$456.8 million$99.4 million+

Both WrestleMania 41 and Night of Champions from Saudi Arabia took place in Q2 which buoyed the increases like in Partnerships & Marketing and Live Events which was attributed to “higher ticket sales revenue as well as an increase in site fees, primarily due to revenue recorded related to both domestic and international premium live events.” Media rights were attributed to escalating fees and SmackDown’s expansion to three hours.

Notable Quotes:

  • Shapiro said one of the reasons ESPN was attractive for their reach, their b-to-c strategy, and overall approach. They were reticent in wanting to put all their content eggs into one basket, and they could have got a slightly higher rights fees by going with another partner.
  • He reiterated the idea of some PLEs being simulcast on ESPN’s linear networks, but noted it could be just the first hour or two. This would appear to be the WWE equivalent of the prelims for UFC shows that air on ESPN’s networks.
  • Shapiro: “We are living in the big event era.” He said that was a reason the WWE PLEs package was so attractive to prospective buyers.
  • He said ESPN liked how both WWE and UFC can attract new subs, “cord nevers” and cord cutters.
  • Shapiro said WrestleMania needs to be a Super Bowl-esque event for ESPN.
  • Shapiro put over the WWE relationship with Netflix and that “It’s clear we are a top tier product for the Netflix platform.”
  • The idea of WWE fans “traveling” to different services was driven home by WWE president Nick Khan who claimed 96% of their audience for WWE Raw moved to Syfy when it was pre-empted from USA due to the Winter Olympics on less than two weeks notice. He also said the peak of 1.1 million of WWE Network subscribers went to Peacock when that move happened and Peacock’s base “grew massively” thanks to those coming for WWE content.
  • They are in the “home stretch” of closing the new UFC media rights deal, a mix of balancing monetization and reach.

Other Notes:

  • It was noted that six of the last eight UFC events were supported by site fees.
  • They have broken their own record for highest grossing WWE arena event three times in the last year with Money in the Bank being the most recent.
  • For the quarter, they hit 36 individual records for ticket sales (assumed to be combined between WWE and UFC) and sold out 16 shows.
  • They continue to be bullish about WWE on Netflix, touting that Raw has appeared every week on the global Top Ten in addition to the success of WWE Unreal.
  • Vince McMahon’s NDA payments continue to be a factor in the reports under TKO’s Certain Legal Costs section.
  • Looking at the third quarter, UFC will hold ten events which includes two PPVs — their fewest in any quarter of the year (three in Q3 of last year) Eight events are expected to be held in front of fans, up from six in the same quarter last year. They also noted last year featured the UFC debut at the Sphere and a title sponsor.
  • While SummerSlam will benefit WWE’s numbers in the third quarter, they will take a hit due to SmackDown reverting to two hours.

TKO exec defends reduced WWE live event schedule, sees ‘tremendous upside’ in ticket pricing

Posted on by Josh Nason

Any hope WWE fans might have of ticket prices coming down any time soon will have to wait.

During his annual appearance at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston, TKO president & chief operating officer Mark Shapiro (pictured above) spoke about both WWE and UFC business which included the upside he sees in both brands.

One of those is ticket pricing which he says has “tremendous upside” in addition to site fees, dynamic pricing (a growing trend with concerts and events where prices are driven by demand in real-time), and yield management (a broader strategy that aims to maximize revenue by controlling inventory availability and pricing).

WWE live event reduction

Shapiro also defended TKO’s decision to reduce yearly WWE live events to around 200 a year, a cut of what he said was 75% off the 300 WWE used to do (even though it’s actually a 33% reduction). He said that decision wasn’t done just to improve margins, and that WWE already had a strong following. Shapiro feels 200 events is a good place to be, but they will continue to prune the schedule as time goes on.

WWE & Peacock

Shapiro said they are continuing to talk with NBC Universal/Peacock who are interesting in renewing their deal for WWE PLEs that expires at the end of March 2026.

Shapiro said they aren’t afraid of working with multiple partners from a business perspective as it’s smart to not put all the marketing eggs in one basket while also maximizing financial opportunity. He added that as a viewer, “I can’t stand it” but admitted that’s the world we live in now.

Like with the UFC rights, there is no rush to make a deal and they want to have the right partner(s) from a financial and brand growth perspective. He also again noted that what is unique about WWE PLEs is they are “very high quality and low volume.” He again didn’t mention anything about the library and perceived value there.

Here’s some other highlights from Shapiro’s 35-minute talk:

  • He confirmed that the state of New Jersey is giving WWE a $7 million site fee for this August’s first-ever two-night SummerSlam. As previously reported, the money is coming from pandemic funding.
  • Shapiro put over how half the WWE/UFC audience is in the 18-49 demographic and that under 18 years old is one of their biggest audiences. He said in that age, they are tied with the NBA as the biggest draw and no. 1 with males under 18.
  • The X-factors to growth with younger viewers: sporting betting with the UFC and Netflix with WWE.
  • He feels WWE will be one of the vehicles Netflix uses to become the first-ever company with a $1 trillion valuation as WWE is an “anditote to churn” and a “proven formula for subscriber acquistion.”
  • He said Raw is in the Netflix top 10 weekly in 29 countries and up 14% for “what we did on USA last year” without specifying what that 14% represents.
  • He pushed the WWE Unreal docuseries in June on Netflix, noting that he cautioned Nick Khan to “not give away the Coca-Cola formula” to expose everything they do but said there’s a proven desire for behind-the-scenes content like this.

WWE’s percentage of ownership in AAA revealed

Posted on by Josh Nason

Through new reporting, the percentage of WWE’s controlling interest in Mexican wrestling promotion AAA has been revealed.

Reported in Spanish language publication LexLatin, WWE (owned by TKO) will own 51% of AAA when the transaction completes in Q3 of 2025 with Mexican sports and entertainment company Fillip owning the remaining 49%.

The total amount of the sale has yet to be revealed. The sale itself was revealed during the pre-show for last month’s WWE WrestleMania 41.

From the report:

“The deal had a strong intellectual property component as the main value of the acquired company (part of the main assets purchased) is its intangible assets (trademarks, copyrights, and exclusive use rights, among others). Because of this, the transaction required an audit of these assets “to verify their specific characteristics, validity, and legal status, as well as a review of the licenses and other contracts entered into regarding them,” Creel explained. 

Creel, Garcia-Cuellar, Aiza y Enríquez, SC was the firm that represented Fillip in the sale. It was stated by the same firm that “several of the seller’s IP assets were subject to litigation, necessitating an analysis of potential liabilities and risks arising from the litigation.”

Roberto Cornish of Mexican legal firm Cornish+Pani Abogados that represented the sellers said that “the IP due diligence also included the structuring and documentation of AAA’s “valuable portfolio of characters, brands, and licensing agreements.'”

No other details were provided as to the audit and the potential litigation regarding AAA’s IP.

WWE enters into new photography partnership with Getty Images

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE and photography company Getty Images have entered into a business partnership.

The two sides issued a press release on Monday announcing that Getty Images has been named the “exclusive worldwide photographic licensing partner” of WWE. Getty Images will distribute photos from WWE television shows and PLEs, along with an archive of WWE photographs from the past four-plus decades.

“Getty Images will exclusively distribute and license WWE‑owned imagery for editorial and commercial uses via gettyimages.com. This includes coverage from Monday Night Raw, NXT and Friday Night SmackDown, as well as Premium Live Events, such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Money in the Bank and more,” the press release said.

“Additionally, never‑before‑seen WWE‑owned photographs and archival content dating back to 1980 will be available for licensing worldwide.”

Getty — which also has partnerships with sports leagues like the NBA, MLB, NHL, FIFA, and Olympics — owns a library of photos and licenses those out to organizations such as newspapers and other media companies.

“We are excited to partner with WWE to deliver high‑quality coverage of WWE’s programming and events to fans and audiences across the globe via our world‑class distribution platform,” Getty Images Vice President of Global Sport Michael Heiman said. “For 30 years, Getty Images has captured the energy of sports and entertainment, helping brands, leagues, and partners elevate with storytelling that stands out. WWE perfectly embodies the merging of sport and entertainment, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to provide our global customers with convenient access to premium WWE‑imagery all in one place.”

“WWE is committed to delivering best‑in‑class visual content 52 weeks a year and Getty Images is the perfect partner to ensure quick, targeted distribution to our devoted fans around the world,” WWE EVP of Creative Services & Photography Julie Sbuttoni added.

The announcement of this partnership comes in advance of WrestleMania 41 taking place in less than two weeks. It’s being held in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20.

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.

**********

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

WWE touts record-breaking Royal Rumble gate and viewership

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is touting that Saturday’s event was the most financially successful Royal Rumble in history.

In a press release issued today, WWE said Royal Rumble 2025 set a new record for the largest gate in Rumble history. The exact figure was not disclosed, but it’s estimated to be around $17 million. WWE said it only trailed WrestleMania 40 night one and WrestleMania 40 night two for the biggest single-night gate the company has ever done.

The attendance number announced by WWE is 70,342. The show was held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and featured Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair winning the respective Royal Rumble matches.

This was also the most-watched Rumble ever with Peacock viewership up nearly 14 percent from last year. WWE said international viewership was up even higher year-over-year due to WWE PLEs now being broadcast on Netflix outside of the United States.

“In partnership with Fanatics, merchandise sales were up more than 95 percent versus the previous Royal Rumble record set last year in 2024, making Royal Rumble 2025 the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event of all-time,” WWE wrote.

“Sponsorship revenue was up 94 percent versus the previous record set in 2024. Royal Rumble featured 14 total partners, with 100 percent of the matches sponsored.”

WWE said this also set a new record for the most social media video views in Royal Rumble history. The most-watched clip was Bron Breakker spearing IShowSpeed, a popular streamer who has more than 35 million subscribers on YouTube and 29 million followers on Instagram.

Next up on the WWE PLE schedule is Elimination Chamber from Rogers Centre in Toronto on March 1. WrestleMania 41 will then be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19-20.

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.

WWE got more than $500,000 in cash & incentives from San Antonio for 2023 Royal Rumble

Posted on by Josh Nason

After a lengthy wait and a fight from both the San Antonio government and WWE, the amount of cash and incentives WWE received for bringing the Royal Rumble to Texas in 2023 has been revealed.

Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that WWE received a financial package of $546,710.74 ($250,000 in cash) for the January mainstay at the Alamodome. The non-cash portion covered other event-related expenses with the full amount submitted to the Texas Governor’s Office for reimbursement.

The amount is in line with what WWE received from Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, tourist organizations for this past January’s Royal Rumble and a fraction of what they have been reportedly receiving in financial packages for WrestleManias and even 2022’s Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales.

Thurston had to fight for the information via the Freedom of Information Act, noting, “The agreement’s release has been the subject of multiple reviews from the Texas Attorney General, with both WWE and the San Antonio government claiming the contract constituted a trade secret.”

Since February, WWE has had an ongoing lawsuit against the Attorney General’s office with the subject of whether the contract should be published as the primary issue. This, as Thurston noted, is still active despite the said publishing of the contract which is available in full on his website.

Some of the specific financials include WWE providing the city with 15% of “novelties” which Thurston believes is venue merchandise sales in addition to small cuts of per-ticket sales to help offset transit and maintenance costs.

The event drew a $7.3 million gate from 44,569 tickets sold, revealed in a previous Thurston report.

WWE fires longtime talent relations executive

Posted on by Josh Nason

The changes and consolidations within the new TKO corporate structure have again hit WWE’s front office, once again in their talent relations department.

First reported by PWInsider, Kristin Altman — the company’s vice president of talent relations operations — is no longer with WWE after starting there in 2007.

Altman began her run as a receptionist before moving to the talent relations department, eventually getting promoted to her final role in August 2022. It’s unknown what the reason was for being let go.

It’s the latest exit by a vice president or senior director in a year that has seen a lot of them with many changes in talent relations.

In March, it was revealed that WWE executive vice president of live events John Porco was gone and then in April, executive vice president of talent relations Dan Ventrelle was let go in addition to senior vice president of athlete ID & development Trent Wilfinger.

COO Brad Blum resigned from the company on May 1st after being identified as “Corporate Officer no. 2” in the Vince McMahon vs. Janel Grant lawsuit. Later in the month, it was learned that senior director of TV event relations Steve Rubin was gone after 26 years in addition to vice president of international events Michael Levin.

Executive vice president of WWE TV Chris Kaiser was ousted in June which was preceded by executive VP of development & digital Jamie Horowitz being let go.

Other key executives who parted ways over the last year include longtime production lead and McMahon right-hand man Kevin Dunn, former company president Frank Riddick, and executive vice president of HR Suzette Ramirez-Carr.

Las Vegas tourism group approves $5 million to host WWE WrestleMania 41

Posted on by Josh Nason

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority have approved $5 million in sponsorship dollars to bring in next April’s WrestleMania 41 and all that surrounds it, announced by the tourism group on Tuesday.

The annual spectacular will be held for the first time at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, April 19th and Sunday, April 20th during Easter weekend: a typically slow time for the city which is why bringing the event in was attractive for them.

Friday’s SmackDown and the following Monday’s Raw will take place at “at an MGM Resorts venue” in addition to WWE World making their home at the Las Vegas Convention Center for five days.

Lisa Motley, vice president of sports and special events for the group, said the city expects more than 180,000 fans to occupy 144,000 “incremental room nights” during the week and weekend.

Of the $5 million, it’s unknown how much WWE will bring home in terms of a site fee vs. how much will be represented by subsidies (venue rentals, advertising and signage, etc).

During last week’s earnings call, TKO vice president Mark Shapiro said they set a WWE site fee record for this past February’s Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia, without revealing the actual number. He previously said last December they had signed a deal worth $16 million for a combination of events in the country.

WWE’s largest site fees still come from Saudi Arabia which pays WWE $50 million per PLE.

Other reported and published site fees include $1.8 million in cash and subsidies from Puerto Rico for last year’s Backlash and SmackDown, $500,000 from St. Petersburg/Tampa for this year’s Royal Rumble, and almost $3 million from the Welsh government for September 2022’s Clash at the Castle.

TKO earnings report & call notes: WWE revenue up, new Raw development

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE’s first quarter revenue finished at $316.7 million, helping fuel another successful quarter for parent group TKO.

The numbers were reported as part of TKO’s first quarter earnings report released Wednesday, followed by an investors call that kicks off at 5 PM Eastern.

This post will have notes from that call when it starts. Please refresh this page later for updated quotes and notes.

The WWE number is a year-over-year (YOY) increase of 6% from 2023’s $297.6 million in the pre-TKO era due to an increase in both live event & media rights revenue, offsetting a dip in consumer products revenue.

TKO revenue, which includes UFC, finished at $629.7 million, up 105% YOY. However, that number is inflated due to the absence of WWE the year prior.

The most interesting part of the afternoon release was the reveal that WWE Raw will remain on USA Network through the end of 2024 for $25 million. As NBCUniversal’s deal for Raw ended at the end of September, there was some question as to where their flagship show would air for the last quarter of the year before heading to Netflix.

TKO’s full-year guidance increased to $2.685 billion, up from $2.61 billion originally forecasted. That is based on the $25 million for the USA deal and outperforming their numbers for the first quarter.

WWE revenue breakdown for Q1:

  • Media rights & content $ 221.1 million
  • Live events: $50.2 million
  • Sponsorship: $13.8 million
  • Consumer products $31.6 million

WWE highlights

Several of the other highlights TKO noted about WWE included the following, all of which were reported on:

  • 47 total events which included Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. Both PLEs set all-time records for gross revenue and viewership which were previously reported on.
  • Their Netflix deal for Raw domestically and everything on the TV side internationally starting in 2025.
  • Even though the event took place in the second quarter, they touted the financial success of WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
  • Their first-ever center mat deal with Prime Energy

UFC notes:

On the other side of the coin, UFC revenue increased slightly to $313 million, up $6.3 million YOY. That was buoyed by a $10.6 million increase in sponsorship and $3.9 million increase in live event revenue, offset by a $9.6 million decrease in media rights & content revenue due to holding one less PPV than last year.

They held 11 shows, five in front of live crowds, in the first quarter, setting all-time gross revenue records for those live shows in the process.

Similar to WrestleMania, they touted the financial success of UFC 300 even though it fell in April.

UFC revenue breakdown for Q1:

  • Media rights & content $ 214.5 million
  • Live events: $35.3 million
  • Sponsorship: $48.6 million
  • Consumer products $14.6 million

Call notes: 

Per the norm in the TKO era, there wasn’t a ton of specific and unique information about WWE or UFC, but here are a few notes.

  • Ari Emanuel, CEO Mark Shapiro and CFO Andrew Schleimer represented TKO per usual. Emanuel ducked out before the Q&A portion began.
  • Site fees and other “cash and non-cash incentives” will continue to drive both big WWE and UFC events.
  • Schleimer said TKO got a “meaningful payment” for WWE bringing Elimination Chamber to Australia — their highest non-Saudi payout to date. He also said next year’s WrestleMania in Las Vegas is tied to both cash/non-cash incentives.
  • Shapiro said the Saudi relationship has been handed off to Nick Khan from Vince McMahon and put over how strong Khan has been with it.
  • He didn’t indicate what the change to the WWE/Saudi arrangement will be, saying as of now, they still have just the two yearly events on the books and the one yearly event for UFC. He did mention wanting to “festivalize” the WWE experience there.
  • The non-exclusive UFC negotiating window opens up in January and lasts for three months. Shapiro said they don’t want to leave, but do want to do what’s best for the company.
  • Several factors go into keeping UFC shows at the Apex in Las Vegas including margins, fan interest, and revenue. Schleimer said they haven’t found the right mix yet, but are working on it. Shapiro said there’s no experience like the live one and that they err on that side when they can.
  • Shapiro said that according to Dana White, the impending UFC PPV at the Sphere in Las Vegas is a “one and done.”