WWE News: Huge update on WWE's TV deals in the US, UK & India
What’s the story?
WWE majority owner, Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer George Barrios, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weiss have opened up on the WWE’s Fourth Quarter 2017 earnings in a conference call.
Addressing the WWE’s future TV deals, it has been revealed that the promotion is getting high offers from several networks. Furthermore, WWE is expected to reveal its next TV deal in the US very soon, the UK deal later this year, and WWE’s television deal in India next year.
In case you didn’t know…
The WWE is a publicly-traded company, and announces its revenues on a quarterly basis. The vast majority of sports-entertainment experts and trade pundits opine that the WWE had its best year, financially, in 2017—a trend that’s expected to continue in 2018.
The heart of the matter
Michelle Wilson spoke about The Miz and Maryse’s upcoming reality show “Miz & Mrs.” that will air on the USA Network as a 6-episode season, besides also addressing the WWE Network’s growth on all platforms—noting that Network views were up by 30% in 2017.
Additionally, George Barrios confirmed that the WWE is set to announce its new television deal in the US (effective from 2019 onwards) this year, whereas details on WWE’s UK TV contract shall be announced later this year, and the promotion’s deal in India will be finalized and announced in 2019.
Furthermore, the WWE representative indicated that the promotion is receiving a greater number of calls from several networks to acquire broadcasting rights to WWE’s TV shows, than they did during the last time WWE renewed its RAW and SmackDown deals.
Besides, it was also revealed that the WWE is in talks with Sky and other television partners in the UK as well as seeking deals to evolve WWE broadcasting in India. It was noted that WWE is going to continue focusing on expansion in the Indian and UK market.
What’s next?
The WWE is expected to grow as a global brand over the next few years; likely at a similar rate as that of 2017, however this could potentially be impacted in a significant manner depending on the WWE’s new TV deal in the US that goes into effect in 2019.
Author’s take
Honestly speaking, the WWE has been following an excellent strategy by focusing on global expansion. The promotion has been churning out a humongous proportion of content over the past few years—something that’s keeping in line with the modern-era of extravagance and grandiosity.
Regardless, the TV revenues are a huge part of WWE’s income, and with MMA giant, the UFC, scouting a new TV deal as well, it’ll be intriguing to see which network WWE RAW and SmackDown end up on.