Notes from WWE’s 2023 Fiscal 2nd Quarter Report

WWE held an investor’s meeting earlier today discussing the results from their fiscal 2023 second quarter report.

In regards to revenues, WWE generated $410.3 million in net revenues for the fiscal quarter, up 25% compared last year’s fiscal second quarter. Operating income for the fiscal quarter was $87.3 million, down up 26% compared to last year’s fiscal second quarter. WWE announced that their net revenues for the fiscal quarter set a new quarterly record in company history.

WWE generated a net income of $52 million for the fiscal quarter, which was up compared to last year’s fiscal second quarter of $49 million.

In regards to other financial areas, WWE’s Adjusted OIBDA for the fiscal quarter was $140.1 million, up 54% compared to last year’s fiscal quarter. WWE’s events revenue for the fiscal quarter was $62 million, up compared to last year’s fiscal quarter of $41 million. WWE’s consumer revenue for the fiscal quarter was $28 million, down compared to last year’s fiscal quarter of $44.1 million.

In regards to this past July’s Money in the Bank 2023 event in London, England, it was stated that this year’s event broke the company’s all-time record for highest-grossing arena event in company history. This year’s event was also stated to have set new records for most viewership, sponsorship revenue, merchandise revenue, and social media activity in Money in the Bank series history.

In regards to WWE’s current sale process to Endeavor, it was stated that all required foreign regulatory approvals were obtained during the past fiscal second quarter and the sale is current expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

In regards to ticket sales revenues, it was announced that North American ticket sales revenues was up 15.5% compared to last year’s fiscal quarter. It was stated that the reason was due to a 45% increase in average attendance for their events during the fiscal quarter, which was an average of 9,870 per show.

Other notable highlights from WWE’s investor’s meeting:

• On the topic of WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon being served with a Federal search warrant and a Federal grand jury subpoena, WWE CO Nick Khan stated that the company will fully cooperate with any federal investigation but he will not comment on any legal-related matters involving this issue.
• On the topic of the live events revenue generated during this past fiscal quarter, Khan stated that this past quarter was the highest grossing live event quarter in all-time WWE history and they see no slowdown coming any time soon.
• On the topic of the current status of WWE’s sale process to Endeavor, Khan stated that the overall process hasn’t been easy but it also has not been difficult. Khan did not provide any specific timeline for when this deal will be approved by regulators.
• On the topic of WWE’s new media rights deals taking longer to complete than last time, Khan stated “Last time, having been across that negotiation, the starting prices of where we were for Raw and SmackDown were far far less than the starting prices now, which means deeper and longer conversations. All of those conversations have been productive. We remain quite optimistic on it in terms of time. I’ve often said in negotiations, you can control a lot of the process, you can never control the timing of the negotiation. We feel we’re there in full force with a robust product that seems to have quite high ratings and relevancy at this moment. We think the results will be what we expect and hope they will be.” Khan also gave his thoughts about interest from potential OTT partners. Khan stated “The OTT buyers seem quite interested in not only Raw, not only SmackDown, but NXT, as do the more traditional buyers. We think it’s a very strong landscape for products that register.”
• Khan also gave his thoughts on if WWE would take a shorter new television deal to align it with the end of their current Peacock deal. Khan stated “I don’t see a one year extension being the outcome for us. I don’t think that’s what the marketplace is suggesting. Also, keep in mind what you already know, our content drives subscription behavior, not just viewership. It’s a 12 month return. Of course the digital players are going to be there, they see the results from Peacock with 20 live events or so per year with WWE and NXT premium live events. No, I don’t see an extension like that in our future. Yes, we’re talking to all the digital content partners who I think see the power in what we can do.“
• On the topic of sponsorship deals, Khan stated that they have already set a new all-time company record for most sponsorship dollars booked for the year.
• On the topic of WWE’s recent deal with Twitch, Khan stated that their current ad share deal with Twitch pays WWE talent more than it they were on their own. Khan also stated that he currently expects bigger things out of their partnership with Twitch as time goes on and after their current sale to Endeavor is completed.

Source: PWInsider.com, F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com