WWE Says Vince Mcmahon Inquiry Substantially Concluded: DEADLINE’s Dade Hayes quotes WWE’s new Chair and co-CEO Stephanie McMahon as saying that her father, WWE co-founder Vince McMahon, is still “very much the controlling shareholder.
” Earnings for the second quarter were released before the conference call, and they “beat Wall Street analyst’s consensus projections,” with revenue increasing 24% to $328.2M.
Frank Riddick, WWE’s CFO and COO, has stated that the investigation into Vince McMahon cost the company $1.7 million during the quarter. The company “expects to face significant financial expenses related to the probe in the future,” but the ex-CEO “said he will pay for those costs.”
Meanwhile, co-CEO Nick Khan “stressed during the call the positive trends in the sports rights sector, including recent pacts for Formula One and an anticipated one for the Big Ten.”
” As he put it, “the F1 arrangement presented a solid pattern for WWE in that it blends linear TV with streaming.” DEADLINE.com, 8/16/2014.
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INTERNAL INVESTIGATION
The WWE Board of Directors has concluded its inquiry into sexual misconduct charges against Vince McMahon, the company stated. According to Palazzolo & Mann of the WALL STREET JOURNAL, McMahon “agreed to pay women to settle allegations of sexual misconduct from 2006 to 2022” and that this amount, along with another $14.6 million, “should have been reported in the company’s financial accounts.
” WWE claims that the misbehavior allegations have not caused it to lose “substantial business to date.” “cautioned investors that a shift in the perspective of our business partners could occur,” the company added. Since McMahon announced his retirement on July 22, WWE’s share price has “risen about 9% to $72.17,” with investors “eyeing the idea of a sale” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/16).
AN EXAMINATION OF MEDIA FREEDOMS
WWE’s new leadership team of Stephanie McMahon, Khan, and EVP/Talent Relations Paul “Triple H” Levesque will be “tested immediately as it negotiates TV rights that are up in the autumn of 2024,” as New York journalist Ryan Glasspiegel writes.
The current broadcast schedule finds WWE Raw on NBCUniversal’s USA Network and WWE Smackdown on Fox. The Wall Street Journal said that the most recent contract for the two weekly programs was for a total of $468M, up from $130M per year in the prior arrangement. “expressed a conviction that WWE will have more bids in this rights cycle,” Khan said on the company’s most recent earnings call in May, “identifying Netflix, Apple, and Amazon by name as potentially involved players.
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” Although it “may be too soon to proclaim a favorite for where they land,” Glasspiegel noted that both NBC and Fox “will have to shell out big amounts to keep” the Raw and SmackDown! broadcasting rights.
“Does it make sense for a content-starved programmer—i.e. all the businesses we’ve already named—to buy WWE outright rather than pay for a share of their rights pie along with its competitors?” is another subject being discussed in the industry.
As of the market close on Friday, WWE was worth $5.4 billion. “[T]he corporation would have to pay a premium to this price to entice McMahon, Khan and the stockholders to sell,” but it is “a possibility worth contemplating” (N.Y. POST, 8/15). WrestleMania will earn $328+ million in the second quarter of 2022, a rise of nearly $63 million from the second quarter of 2021.
The current investigation of ex-chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was also discussed, as was the estimated cost of that inquiry. The figures were included in a 10-Q report that was submitted on Monday night. Earlier today, WWE announced that their quarterly investors’ call would be held on Tuesday at 8:30 AM Eastern time, rather than the regular 5 PM Eastern time.
Because of revisions to historical financial statements necessitated by McMahon’s failure to account for expenses, the call has been postponed. The file included responses to recent issues and investigations:
WWE has halted its stock repurchase program pending the outcome of the investigation. General and administrative costs for the investigation amounted to $1.7 million in the second quarter, and the report states that while the company “currently anticipates spending approximately $10 million during the remainder of the year related to this investigation, the related costs could exceed this estimate.”
McMahon has repaid a total of $3.2 million ($1.2 million this year and $1 million in 2021) in connection with the unreported costs since the beginning of the year.
Vince McMahon paid $2.2 million in the first six months of 2022 and $1.2 million in the first six months of 2021 for costs that had not been properly recorded. All of the $19.6 million that was found has been paid or will be paid by him.
BEYOND THE FIGURES
Media sales increased to over $328 million, up from $265 million in the same period last year. Revenue from live events ($41+ million, up from $9.2 million) and consumer products ($44+ million, up from $22 million) were the key drivers. Tickets sold in North America accounted for $34.9 million, a significant increase over the $6.6 million sold in 2016.
Over the course of 55 events, the quarter’s total live attendance of 400,300 was up significantly from the previous year’s total of 40,400. (two nights of WrestleMania in Tampa).
There were an average of 6800 people in attendance across North America, and an average of 6550 across four overseas locations. Over $7 million was made through sales of products at concert and stadium locations.
Trading cards and collectibles combined to bring in $3.1 million, and license revenue for WWE 2K22 was $5.6 million.
WWE has stated that it will continue to invest in content production, citing the nearly $20 million it has already spent on A&E, Miz & Mrs., WWE Evil, and another programming for the WWE Network. This is up significantly from the $9.1 million it spent in the same period last year. Between $20 and $30 million was planned for content production for the rest of the year.
They earned $4 million in “content development incentives” so far this year, with another $10 million expected by the end of the year.
MLW
In response to MLW’s ongoing litigation, WWE stated that they had moved to dismiss the action in March and that MLW had responded in April. MLW claims WWE interfered with a prospective Tubi contract and with their Vice TV arrangement.
The company stated that it plans to defend itself “vigorously” against the claims made in the lawsuit because “the Company believes that all assertions in the action are without substance.”
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