By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
TKO executives hosted a conference call pertaining to the company’s fourth quarter and 2024 full year earnings report that was released on February 26, 2025 at TKOgrp.com. The following are the WWE related highlights of the call. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
-TKO Senior VP of Investor Relations Seth Zaslow read through the legalities and then turned things over to the hosts.
-The call was hosted by CEO, Ari Emanuel, President and COO Mark Shapiro, and CFO Andrew Schleimer. Shapiro and Schleimer would handle the Q&A portion of the call.
-Emanuel delivered the opening statements and then Schleimer read through the financial report presentation.
-It was noted by Schleimer that with the Royal Rumble taking place in Saudi Arabia, they will hold only one premium live event in 2025. The company plans to hold three total premium live events in Saudi Arabia in 2026.
-TKO renewed its deal to bring UFC and WWE events to Perth, Australia.
-Schleimer mentioned that Smackdown is a three-hour show for the first-half of 2025.
-The Q&A portion started with a question about the UFC media rights deal. Shapiro confirmed that the 90-day exclusive negotiating window with Disney/ESPN started on January 15.
-The caller asked about the possible repeal of the Ali Act. Shapiro said the act has its flawed. He said they are not lobbying legislators, and they feel like they have an opportunity with boxing that they intend to chase.
-The caller asked for TKO’s plans with boxing. Shapiro said their primary focus is to continue to drive value to their core business, which he said is UFC and WWE. He said they will be selective, disciplined, and thoughtful when it comes to other opportunities. He said boxing checks those boxes, and he labeled Nick Khan and Dana White as experts who can drive that business. Shapiro said there is strong interest in boxing around the globe. He conceded that the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight was unique, but he listed the streaming numbers they did for Netflix. Shapiro said boxing has been broken and mismanaged for too long. Shapiro said they are close to an agreement with the Saudis for a boxing league that would make TKO the promoters and make them responsible for the management of day-to-day operations. He said Schleimer and Nick Khan are meeting with the Saudis in London. Shapiro spoke of having four super fights, likely two this year and two next year, and TKO will act as the promoter, producer, and event operator.
-The next caller spoke about TKO doing a 30 percent revenue growth for WWE and UFC live events and how they see this year going. Schleimer said they wouldn’t talk specifically about growth plans, but he said 2024 was a banner year. Shapiro said they are not seeing any signs of a slowdown. He said they are exercising AI opportunities. Shapiro touted the success of Raw on Netflix, and then raved about NXT on The CW. He said The CW was up 16 percent in total viewers last night compared to the week before. He praised the work of Lee Fitting and Paul Levesque on the WWE side also touted the storytelling.
-Shapiro stated that the PLE deal with Peacock is up in March 2026 and they expect to have renewal discussions in the second-half of 2025.
-The subject of sponsorship deals was brought up by the next caller. Shapiro said they are on track to meet their goals. He said they have had tremendous success selling all three leagues (WWE, UFC, PBR). Shapiro said it’s “fertile ground” for Nick Khan and mentioned in-ring and additional sponsorship opportunities.
-The caller asked how many opportunities within the calendar year are there to do more TKO Takeover events. Schleimer said they are just getting started in that area. He said they originally spoke about this being premium events, but the initial Takeover in Kansas City is a Fight Night and non-PLE for WWE (Raw). Shapiro spoke of the possibility of getting site fees for NXT in the future. He said that the TKO Takeover approach is festival-like.
-Shapiro declined to comment on Endeavor despite his role with the company due to this being a TKO call.
-A caller asked how to turn the added engagement from Netflix into revenue growth. Shapiro essentially spoke about staying the course and not trying to reinvent the wheel.
-The final caller asked about the possibility of additional programming on Netflix. Nick Khan checked in and said all he has seen from Netflix has been an appetite for WWE. He said they are doing a behind the scenes show that will come out on Netflix later this year. Shapiro said they’ve already had a call about a documentary on tracking the TKO Takeover event. They wrapped up the call shortly thereafter.
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