By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
TKO executives hosted a conference call pertaining to the company’s third quarter financial report that was released on November 6, 2024 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. It was noted that Shapiro and Schleimer would handle the Q&A portion of the call.
-Emanuel touted the demand for WWE and UFC live events remaining strong. He noted that the U.S. market remains strong, and then spoke favorably of their success internationally. He also noted that NXT is up 12 percent through its first five weeks on The CW compared to USA Network numbers from last year. He also touted Smackdown on USA Network, the start of quarterly specials on NBC, and Raw starting on Netflix on January 6.
-Schleimer read through the earnings report presentation and then they took calls.
-A caller noted that WWE expenses were down despite revenue increases. Schleimer said they benefitted from having one more Raw event in the quarter, and also mentioned their cost savings strategies. Shapiro said they are still integrating WWE and UFC. He said the margins will be even better when they run UFC and WWE weekends in the same venues, and also said they could add PBR (Professional Bull Riders) into that approach.
-Shapiro spoke about the pay-per-view model of UFC and how it has helped build ESPN+. He said they won’t have a shortage of suitors for the UFC pay-per-view rights.
-Shapiro continued to claim that the UFC event held at The Sphere in Las Vegas will be a one and done. He did mention that rock bands retire and return, so he seemed to leave the door open. He later noted that Dana White said it was one and done at The Sphere in Las Vegas, then added the possibility of holding an event at The Sphere in Abu Dhabi.
-The next caller asked about driving sponsorships once WWE starts on Netflix. Shapiro said the reaction has been pretty amazing thus far. Shapiro mentioned WWE executive Nick Khan was in the room and was knee deep in the sponsorship deals. Khan spoke about the expected increases in sponsorship via Netflix.
-Shapiro said they haven’t had challenges when it comes to talent leaving WWE and UFC. On the WWE side, he touted Paul Levesque as a master storyteller and said that helps keep talent happy. He said talent wants to come to WWE and UFC. They wrapped up the call shortly thereafter.
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