By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE executives hosted a conference call pertaining to the WWE third quarter financial report that was released on November 4, 2021 at Corporate.WWE.com. The following are the highlights of the call. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-The call was hosted by Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and WWE Chief Financial Officer Kristina Salen, and WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan. WWE Senior VP of Investor Relations Michael Weitz read through the legalities and then turned it over to Vince.
-Vince spoke of a solid quarter and the global demand for WWE. He boasted about the return of live events and said that’s really where WWE comes to life.
-Nick Khan spoke about WWE’s deal for next day streaming rights with Hulu expiring in 2022. He noted that stakes in Hulu will eventually being bought out by Disney.
-Khan said WWE will be announcing “a slew” of scripted and unscripted programming. He also sang the praises of the cuts of Netflix’s documentary on Vince McMahon.
-Khan discussed the 2022 pay-per-view schedule, which includes running four stadium shows. He said they are doing the Royal Rumble a week earlier than usual to avoid going against corporate partner NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics.
-Stephanie McMahon addressed the company’s growth in sponsorship. She started with “bad news.” She said The Miz was eliminated from “Dancing with the Stars.” Stephanie touted the extra attention that Miz appearing on the ABC show generated. She also discussed WWE’s moves from arenas to stadiums for certain events and touted the extra revenue that SummerSlam brought in.
-Stephanie said John Cena was the top merchandise seller during the “Summer of Cena.” She said the end of the Summer of Cena was followed by the returns of Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar.
-Salen read through the highlights of the financial report (analyst calls typically follow this portion).
-Weitz opened the phone lines. The initial caller asked about the timing of the day two rights. Khan said the current deal expires in late 2022, so the new deal will be finished before then.
-A caller asked about social media advertising being affected by an IOS update. Salen said they have not seen any negativity.
-The caller asked about NFTs. Khan said the market is robust and he expects it to be even more robust and said it’s here to stay.
-The next caller asked about turnover in management and whether there will be additional changes. Khan spoke about efficiency and having the right people in place.
-The caller asked about NXT changes. Khan said they wanted a younger, fresher in-ring approach. He said he thinks they have it. He said some talents have already been elevated to the main roster and there will be more of that. He said he expects NXT to continue to build the way it is currently building.
-After some additional finance related questions, they wrapped up what turned out to be an uneventful call.
Not sure if it might come up on the call or if maybe you have heard anything. But there has been zero mention of HHH for a while now. Is his health improving? The silence indicates to me that this was all very serious