WWE CEO Nick Khan on Media Rights Talks, Old PPV Model Return Interest, Vince McMahon, Pat McAfee

The Sports Business Journal held a recent interview with WWE CEO Nick Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts on WWE’s current position ahead of its upcoming talks for new media rights deals.

“If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we’re in a good position. We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter.”

Khan also stated that the company currently believes there will be plenty of money available for them despite their media rights deals ending around the same time as NASCAR and NBA’s own media rights deals.

“We believe there’s plenty of money out there for us.”

Khan also gave his thoughts about the issues of trying to navigate a potential sale of WWE with talks for new media rights deals.

“That’s probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that.”

In a separate interview with The Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast, Khan stated that WWE is currently open to the idea of returning to the old pay-per-view model for their events similar to UFC and ESPN’s model with ESPN+ and PPV for UFC events. Khan stated that if someone like NBCU were to offer them five times the amount in rights fees but needed to do an upcharge to recover costs as an example, they would be open to having their PPV events be a separate charge from the WWE Network.

In regards to Vince McMahon’s sexual harassment and hush money payments scandal, Khan praised WWE’s stockholders and staff for “staying calm” throughout it and stated “fortunately, we’re on the other side of it.” Khan also stated that McMahon is currently “not that involved” in WWE’s creative and has embraced WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s work as Head of Creative.

In regards to Pat McAfee’s status in WWE, Khan stated that the company currently does not have any plans for him to make an appearance at this weekend’s WrestleMania 39 event in Inglewood, California. Khan stated:

“We have no plans to have him there this weekend.

The world is his oyster. He’s 36 years old and look at his relevancy factor when you talk to young children. I have two young children, when I talk to them it’s often, ‘McAfee, McAfee, McAfee.’ That’s what’s in the wheelhouse for them. So, if you look at any of the traditional buyers, what do they want? They want a young diverse audience. What does McAfee bring? He brings a young, diverse audience. You notice he doesn’t get political, extreme, either way. He has Aaron Rodgers on, he treats him respectfully, develops that relationship, he becomes the go-to home of Aaron Rodgers. You see that with more athletes and Pat. He’s not looking to annihilate anybody or crucify them, he’s looking to have good content and his content has been terrific. So, he’ll determine, ultimately, where he wants his home to be and our hope is that he does more with us.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com 1 & 2