Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of today's TKO Group Holdings' 2024 Third Quarter Earnings Call.
Seth Zaslow welcomed everyone to the call.
They played pre-prepared remarks from Ari Emanuel. They are expected to hit their guidance numbers before the end of the year. He reviewed the cash dividend program and the purchase of several companies, including IMG, On Location and PBR. He said they are extremely bullish about the deals and what it brings to their portfolio. On Location has secured a deal to renewed their relationship with the NFL through 2036. He praised WWE's record gate in Japan, their PLE in Germany and Summerslam becoming the highest grossing non-Wrestlemania event in history.
NXT is up 12% in viewership since moving to CW.
He praised the strengthening the NBC & USA Network relationship with Smackdown and SNME as well as the debut of Raw on Netflix on 1/6.
They reviewed the settlement of the UFC fighters lawsuit.
They recapped the numbers in today's financial release.
The short term USA Network deal for Raw saw a loss of $50 million this quarter due to the timing.
They opened for questions.
They are still working to integrate the WWE and UFC companies. They are working on building the strategies of having UFC, WWE and even PBR on same weekends and having sponsors having buy sponsorships over the same weekend. They are working where they can do this all over the country and the world. They want to maximize values of all three. They aren't looking to break them down but maximize the rights. They are driving subs and advertising with UFC. Across the board, WWE is still a stalwart for broadcast and cable networks. If they have to bring other suitors or partners in the door, then they are going to do that. They are signaling that to their shareholders and the media companies that will be chasing them soon.
They were asked about the differences between how WWE and UFC are distributed. They were asked why UFC on a PPV model is still the best path. Internationally, they sell PPVs but not domestically, which is ESPN's job. It's what the market will bear. They are the next big thing up for bidding. Their numbers are insane. They have flexibility and can play ball on a myriad of business models. They are willing to talk about all of the models with all potential partners.
Dana White's comments about doing boxing events., They said the sport is fragmented and/or broken. Dana and Nick Khan have expertise on it. They are not writing a check for it. If they would do something in that space, it would be with a partner paying them to operate it. They don't need to add anything to their model but boxing is ripe for a fix.
They teased the idea of adding more UFC Fight Pass live events and original content.
With the Netflix deal approaching, they were asked about growing WWE sponsorships. It's been "pretty amazing." Netflix was been creative and great out of the gate and since this is new, they really want to explore. They (Netflix) drove a deal for Minute Maid to come in as a WWE sponsor as well as the Netflix wheel. Nick Khan jumped in and said Netflix has 650 million potential viewers globally. They are expecting even more growth after January due to the global reach.
They were asked about UFC and WWE cost synergies to date. The best way to look at the business is the full year. They will exceed the upper end of their range of saving $100 million and they will give full year results in February - and will show details on additional synergies for 2025. They are a little in excess of the upper end.
Mark Shapiro said they haven’t had challenges with talent leaving because WWE and UFC are destination companies, something they don’t take for granted.
TKO would not be buying any other potential assets Endeavor is exploring the potential sale of, but Ari Emanuel could be a bidder personally.
That was it!
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
