Kemo
03-28-2023, 09:50 PM
WWE CEO Nick Khan believes that the company is well-positioned to continue raking in huge money for years to come.
Vince McMahon's organization has undergone significant changes to its board of directors over the past few months. In addition to the ongoing work of running the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world, management is gearing up to shop around the next round of TV rights contracts.
WWE's current deals with NBCUniversal and Fox are both set to expire next year. There is also the ongoing story of WWE fielding offers in hopes of executing a sale by mid-2023. Potential bidders include Comcast, Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
WWE CEO Nick Khan spoke with Sports Business Journal this week and addressed the media rights deals for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
When asked about media rights, Khan talked about the recent increase in WWE ratings and claimed that they are in a good position:
"If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we're in a good position. We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter,"
Nick Khan then discussed managing the two separate sets of negotiations and labeled it as the 'trickiest of all parts.':
"That's probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that."
WWE's year-over-year viewership is up nine percent for Raw on USA Network and eight percent for SmackDown on FOX. Even NXT on USA is up five percent.
While citing internal numbers, WWE officials have noted that when it comes to their premium live events on Peacock, the company has experienced more than 50 percent viewership gains on average in the same period.
Amid the sale talks, WWE will host WrestleMania 39 which takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California on April 1 and 2.
Vince McMahon's organization has undergone significant changes to its board of directors over the past few months. In addition to the ongoing work of running the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world, management is gearing up to shop around the next round of TV rights contracts.
WWE's current deals with NBCUniversal and Fox are both set to expire next year. There is also the ongoing story of WWE fielding offers in hopes of executing a sale by mid-2023. Potential bidders include Comcast, Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
WWE CEO Nick Khan spoke with Sports Business Journal this week and addressed the media rights deals for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
When asked about media rights, Khan talked about the recent increase in WWE ratings and claimed that they are in a good position:
"If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we're in a good position. We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter,"
Nick Khan then discussed managing the two separate sets of negotiations and labeled it as the 'trickiest of all parts.':
"That's probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that."
WWE's year-over-year viewership is up nine percent for Raw on USA Network and eight percent for SmackDown on FOX. Even NXT on USA is up five percent.
While citing internal numbers, WWE officials have noted that when it comes to their premium live events on Peacock, the company has experienced more than 50 percent viewership gains on average in the same period.
Amid the sale talks, WWE will host WrestleMania 39 which takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California on April 1 and 2.