Could more WWE programming be heading to Netflix in the future? Don’t count it out according to Nick Khan. Speaking on the TKO 2024 earnings call, the WWE President addressed the partnership between WWE and the streaming juggernaut so far.
“They’ve been phenomenal to deal with. They’ve promoted us in a way we hoped we would be promoted, even more so than we had hoped.”
Khan shared that Netflix has shown “an apetite for more WWE.” With plans already in motion, fans can expect much more WWE content on the platform.
“The appetite by Netflix to have additional ancillary programming, we announced a few weeks ago, we’re doing a WWE behind the scenes show with Netflix, which will come out later this year. Assume there is more cooking in the pipeline.”
Netflix currently hosts Monday Night Raw, while fans outside the U.S. also receive SmackDown, WWE NXT, and Premium Live Events. PLEs from WWE’s past are also available, as are some (though by no means all) TV broadcasts from WWE history.
WWE’s partnership with Netflix has been a runaway success thus far with the alliance exceeding Khan’s expectations. Now, fans can expect much more content to come in the pipeline.
WWE will host a Premium Live Event in Paris, France this year, WWE President Nick Khan confirmed this week. During a fireside chat Khan confirmed the Paris PLE will take place, though the name and date of the show have yet to be publicly disclosed.
The show will be WWE’s second Premium Live Event in the country and follows on from last year’s Backlash event in Lyon. The show received positive reviews from fans, with the loud, rauccous crowd inside the LDLC Arena proving to be a highlight of the night.
WWE’s Paris PLE will be the latest example of the promotion taking its biggest monthly events outside the United States. Since 2022, WWE has grown more accustomed to hosting events internationally with shows taking place in the UK, Australia, and Germany. WWE continues to host events in Saudi Arabia, with next year’s Royal Rumble PLE set to take place in the middle eastern nation.
Posted January 16th, 2025 in WWE. Tagged: Nick Khan.
Variety, the long-running magazine covering the entertainment industry, named All-Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan and several members of WWE parent company TKO, including Nick Khan to its “Dealmakers 2024” in an article published on the magazine’s website on Wednesday.
Khan, AEW and the TKO board were one of the few non-agency or law firms named to the Dealmakers list this year, which included Audible and several lobbying and entertainment law firms.
Tony Khan was credited with AEW’s new three-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, five years after the company aired its first show on WBD television.
In October, five years to the week after Khan launched professional wrestling promotion AEW as a direct competitor to Vince McMahon’s long-dominant WWE, he closed a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, worth a reported $185 million a year, that calls for AEW’s shows and events to be broadcast on TBS and TNT and stream on Max. The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world.
Ain’t bragging if it’s true: “Our new arrangement signifies that AEW will make history as the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events weekly on top cable channels and a top streaming platform,” says Khan.
The article called 2024 a year where “deals weren’t as plentiful or as rich, but necessity being the mother of invention, often more innovative.”
Longtime World Wrestling Entertainment executive and president Nick Khan, along with fellow TKO executives Ariel Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and Andrew Schleimer, were also named. Variety cited the Endeavor’s 2023 acquisition of WWE and WWE’s deal with Netflix.
Last year, Endeavor merged Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment under the TKO Group Holdings banner. In January 2024, TKO’s leadership quadrumvirate closed a $5.2 billion, 10-year deal to make Netflix the exclusive home of WWE’s flagship show “Raw” in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America and other territories beginning in January 2025. As part of the pact, Netflix will be the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the U.S. from that date forward, giving roughly 80% of international territories immediate access to 100% its content, with the rest of the globe filling out their WWE lineups as outstanding deals expire.
“While the money is extraordinarily important, the downstream impact and ancillary benefits to being with the distributor and just south of 300 million homes globally was something that got us very excited,” says Schleimer.
Other members of the list included:
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, the second-largest lobbying firm in the U.S.
Alter Kendrick and Baron, music lawyers who closed $1 billion in publishing and mater recording acquisitions in 2024.
Audible’s executive team
Perry, Plashuk, Lefebvre and Hill of Covington and Burling, law firm specializing in entertainment acquisitions
David Wright Tremaine, litigation law firm now advising on major entertainment projects
Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb and Dang, entertainment law firm
Nina Shaw of Del Shaw Moonves Tnaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb and Dang
DLA Piper, Hollywood legal firm
Francisco Arias of Fifth Season
Fox Rotschild, lawyers and talent reps
The magazine credited those on the list for maneuvering the economic ups and downs of the streaming bubble, COVID-19 and inflation, as well as strikes by the writers and actors unions.
WWE President Nick Khan and TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro attended Michael Rubin’s lavish July 4th White Party in the Hamptons
The event, hosted by Fanatics CEO Rubin, featured A-list celebrities and is significant due to Fanatics’ lucrative merchandise deals with WWE and UFC
WWE President Nick Khan and TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro joined a host of A-list celebrities at Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s annual July 4th White Party in the Hamptons.
The star-studded event, held at Rubin’s $50 million oceanfront mansion in Bridgehampton, saw attendees adhering to an all-white dress code. Notable guests included Kim Kardashian, Tom Brady, Jake Paul, Emily Ratajkowski, and Megan Fox. The party featured performances by Mary J. Blige and a fireworks display.
Rubin, whose company Fanatics has lucrative merchandise partnerships with both WWE and UFC, has turned this into a yearly tradition. The gathering highlights the close business relationships between Fanatics and major sports entertainment brands like WWE and UFC under the TKO umbrella.
Michael Rubin has good reason to invite Nick Khan, Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro to his epic Hamptons gathering. Back in April, Rubin called WWE’s growth and potential “absolutely insane” and said the “insatiable demand” for WWE merchandise leaves the world’s top sports leagues in the dust.
Fanatics works with the NFL, NCAA, MLB, NASCAR and countless other leagues, but Rubin couldn’t contain his excitement about WWE.
“The biggest growth sport in my mind Well, are we looking at percents, dollars? What’s wild, I’ll tell you honestly, what’s going on with WWE is insane. If I look at the growth in our WWE business, and it’s a big business already, it’s absolutely insane.”
“NFL is a multi-billion dollar business. Baseball is a multi-billion dollar business. We look collectively within our overall business, if you talk about growth percent, what’s going on with WWE is spectacular.”
Randy Orton enjoys the consistency of the new WWE product since Triple H has fully taken over of the company’s creative, but thanks two other employees for helping with that direction.
Speaking with “Adam’s Apple,” ‘The Viper’ gave his thoughts on the fresh, new and steady direction that Paul Levesque has implemented under his watchful eye.
“With Nick Khan, HHH, and Bruce Prichard, so many things have changed from a creative standpoint. They’re thinking months and months in advance. Before, we were flying by the seat of our pants. Creative was changed mins before we went live each week. I don’t mean sometimes. I mean, each week.”
Orton said that there’d be days where it would be 5:00 PM on the east coast and changes were still be made to the show that was airing in just a few hours. That aspect created for some very stressful moments. Under the Triple H regime, there’s more time laid ahead for talent to implement their own creativity.
“So just purely from a creative standpoint, you’re able to let it marinate and think about, okay, how am I gonna do this? Or how can I make this better? Or maybe there are tweaks, but you don’t do it ten minutes before you go live.”
Randy Orton has clearly been enjoying his time back in WWE has he got a gigantic reaction while he and Kevin Owens opened WWE Backlash in France and although the two lost, Orton remains in a top babyface role in WWE SmackDown.
WWE operates on many layers, because there is a complicated business world behind the sports entertainment lights. Nick Khan has been responsible for ushering WWE into a new era, but he is now selling out his remaining shares.
It was revealed on Friday that McMahon is selling up to 8.02 million shares he owns, per Sportico. The shares Vince McMahon has listed for sale are valued at over $776 million, based on TKO’s closing price of $96.76 on Friday. He is not the only person who is unloading a ton of stock, because Nick Khan is also listing all of his remaining TKO shares.
WWE president Nick Khan is also listed as a seller in the prospectus. He plans to sell his entire stake of 234,424 shares, including restricted stock units he has accumulated over time.
Despite these sales, Khan will continue in his current role at the company, as confirmed by a source familiar with the transaction who wished to remain anonymous and was not authorized to speak publicly on his behalf.
It’s important to understand that the filing only makes these shares eligible for sale; it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be sold. However, in the corporate world, such filings typically precede the actual sale of the shares soon after. Generally, in the business sector, when shares are listed like this, they tend to be sold.
Nick Khan’s Life Prior To WWE
Before joining WWE, Khan served as Co-Head of Television at CAA, where he represented top figures and organizations in sports media, negotiating media rights deals worth billions of dollars. Khan came on board at WWE in 2020 and played a pivotal role in driving the company to achieve record revenue and profitability.
He started his career as a practicing attorney, so he understands the intricacies of contract talks. Nick Khan and The Rock have also been friends since childhood, giving another strong connection to the pro wrestling business.
It will be interesting to see what his next move is, especially if he sells all of his stock, but remains with the company.
SEScoops will have more on this still-developing story as additional information is made known.
Cities all over the world compete for the opportunity to host major WWE events. WrestleMania 40 proved to be another financial success for both WWE and Philadelphia, which may see upwards of $200 million added to the local economy.
WWE President Nick Khan spoke at the World Congress of Sports convention on Wednesday and provided some new details on the company’s outlook for future locations.
Key takeaways:
The location for next year’s WrestleMania 41 has not been finalized, but Las Vegas is one of the finalists under consideration.
WWE is looking to run more stadiums that have hosted the Super Bowl, but fewer stadiums on the East coast.
WrestleMania will probably move to a different weekend to avoid competition with the NCAA basketball tournament.
WWE Making PLE Travel Plans
The WWE CEO recommitted their plans to hold more International premium live events. Their goal is to have the ‘big five’ shows in the US and all the others in other countries like we’ve seen for Elimination Chamber Perth and Backlash France.
“We sat down together a few years ago and decided, so the big five premium live events … should be in the United States or Canada. All of the other events, the goal is to have them from international locations.”
WWE fans have needed to set their alarms to different times in the past so they can watch a premium live events. Shows in Saudi Arabia air in the afternoon for fans on the East Coast, and Australia’s Elimination Chamber event started at 4:00 AM EST. This will become more of a trend as the company continues announcing more PLEs.
NBCUniversal secured a $1 billion streaming agreement with WWE, designating Peacock as the exclusive platform for all pay-per-views, specials, and library content. Their streaming agreement with Peacock is set to expire in 2026.
With Peacock as the company’s primary streaming partner, it does not matter to them if fans watch the PLEs live. The money is still coming in for WWE, as fans in North America can watch at their leisure whenever they like.
WWE is more open to the idea of working with other wrestling promotions than ever before, with Nick Khan at the helm to make this a reality.
In contrast to other, smaller promotions, WWE has almost always refused to work with other companies, especially any it sees as direct competition such as All Elite Wrestling. Justin Barrasso of SIreports, “one of WWE’s potential explorations is to engineer a collaboration with other professional wrestling promotions.”
Khan is certainly more open to working with others compared to the four decades of the Vince McMahon era. CM Punk recently disclosed that it was Khan who reached out to him in late 2023 which led to his return at Survivor Series in November. Khan also reached out to TNA Wrestling in early 2024 which resulted in Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace competing in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match.
Playing Nice
While WWE almost never works with other companies, there have been some rare instances of the Sports Entertainment juggernaut aligning with other promotions. In 2022, then IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts World Champion competed as part of the Women’s Royal Rumble match. James (like Grace would two years later) would wear her Knockouts Championship to the ring.
In June 2022, John Cena reached the 20th anniversary of his debut for WWE. To celebrate, WWE shared videos of several of Cena’s former rivals praising ‘Big Match John.’ Among these were Daniel Bryan, The Big Show, and Chris Jericho, all of whom are with AEW.
In 2012, WWE reached a deal with TNA that allowed for Ric Flair to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the Four Horsemen, a move that made the Nature Boy the first two-time WWE Hall of Famer. As part of the deal, WWE granted TNA use of Christian who inducted Sting into TNA’s Hall of Fame.
Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan are among those named in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against WWE, in which she claims she was abused and trafficked during her tenure.
The suit claims that Khan, WWE’s CEO, was instrumental in a scheme that saw Grant hired in an undefined role, Front Office Sports reports. Khan is listed in the paperwork as ‘Corporate Officer 1’ alongside WWE COO Brad Blum (Officer 2.) McMahon presented Blum and Khan to Grant as his ‘key fixers’ according to the suit.
A statement from WWE reads:
“WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact. Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.”
The suit claims that in March 2021, Grant told McMahon that Khan responded to her introducing herself in a corridor by telling her he knew exactly who she was. McMahon told her, according to the suit, that Khan had “inquired whether Grant could be trusted.” A WWE spokesperson denies this conversation ever happened.
It should be stressed that neither Blum or Khan have been accused of acting sexually inappropriate with Janel Grant.
Brad Blum’s Alleged Role
Grant claims that when she first met with McMahon, she had minimal work history, but that the 78-year-old ensured her a meeting with Blum, the EVP of operations at the time. The interview with Blum saw “hardly any questions” asked, but she was hired to a $75,000-a-year role in WWE’s legal department. When McMahon told Grant that Blum had warned him “that there were a lot of rumors circulating” about the relationship, she was moved to another department.
Stephanie McMahon in the Lawsuit
The suit also makes reference to Stephanie McMahon (Corporate Officer 3) who stepped down from WWE in January 2023 following her father’s return. Stephanie is mentioned once in ambiguous context in the suit. She is described as knowing “of other instances of [Vince] McMahon engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct” and motioned for Grant to sit near her during a meeting. The meeting in question was said to be among WWE’s executive committee which Grant claims was odd for her to be present for, saying it was far above her pay grade.
WWE kicked off 2024 with a huge episode of RAW, and fans did not know what to expect. They received two action-packed title matches, and The Rock’s return. Those within the company also had a meeting prior to the whole event starting in San Diego.
WWE’s Meeting Before Day 1 RAW
PW Insider reported that Paul Levesque and Nick Khan held a talent meeting before the January 1st episode of WWE RAW. This was said to be a positive meeting with good vibes.
We haven’t heard much yet other than it was a short, positive meeting.
It was further reported that, “One source relayed it was a ‘great meeting’ that focused on rallying the troops. It was just much a ‘rah rah’ meeting to thank them for everything they’ve done and will do for the company.”
WWE is heading into a new year, and they had a blockbuster 2023 behind them. The company is also going to see some shifting internally, because long-time WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn is no longer a part of the picture.
Kevin Dunn concluded his three-decade tenure with the company, steadfast in his decision not to conform to imposed directives, so he is retiring instead. Kevin Dunn remained committed to his hands-on approach to overseeing production, even though there was reportedly a push for him to stay.
WWE Raw may be starting 2024 in the most electrifying way possible.
January 1, 2024 is a busy day for sports entertainment and The Rock is in the thick of the action. The People’s Champion is currently in attendance for The Rose Bowl today and a social media catches him conversing with college football broadcast legend Lee Corso.
However, who happens to be lurking in the background but WWE CEO Nick Khan? Granted, Khan’s initial bread and butter was as a sports agent so him being there isn’t a huge shocker, but the fact that Triple H has teased a former WWE Champion would be in the building for WWE Raw Day 1 tonight.
Another fact of the matter is the location for both events. Per usual, the Rose Bowl takes place in Pasadena, CA and Raw so happens to be in San Diego. Pasadena is just over a two-hour drive to San Diego.
Could We See The Rock vs. Roman Reigns At WrestleMania 40?
Just this past September, The Rock made his epic return to SmackDown and before that on the Pat McAfee Show, teased an interest in participating at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
The Rock versus Roman Reigns has been speculated to happen for years, but a potential appearance of The Rock being on Raw could lay the groundwork for The Bloodline battle between the two.
However, The Rock being positioned for a match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania would throw a wrench in the works for Cody Rhodes being able to “finish the story” against “The Tribal Chief” at WrestleMania.
In a message shared throughout WWE (obtained by PW Insider), Khan said the following:
After 40+ years of helping to build WWE and, hands down, the best production and media unit in the entire sports and entertainment business, Kevin Dunn, will be leaving our company as of today.
Before WrestleMania 1, Kevin joined Vince at WWF. Many of us remember a pre-WrestleMania WWF – a regional wrestling company that looked like a regional wrestling company. Then we experienced WrestleMania 1, whether live, on closed circuit or years later elsewhere. It was magic. A regional wrestling company had become a global sports entertainment juggernaut. Vince led the way, side by side with Kevin Dunn. When many of us were kids standing in line waiting to play Pac-Man, Kevin was already on the road breaking his back to help build our company.
When you see our product now, there is nothing that comes close to its look or feel – 52 weeks a year, three to four times a week. It is singular and truly special. No other company can or will do that, and that is because of Kevin and our media team’s hard work, smarts and determination.
We are forever grateful to Kevin. He will always be a part of the WWE family.
Some thought that Kevin Dunn would be fired after the retirement of Vince McMahon in July 2022. Click here to check out Triple H’s comments at the time.
April will be an important month for WWE, with the company holding WrestleMania 39 and meeting with potential buyers.
In February, WWE CEO Nick Khan stated that if a sale were to happen, it could be quick and threw out, “maybe three months.”
When Vince McMahon returned to the company in January as the Executive Chairman of WWE’s Board of Directors, exploring a possible sale and helping with the negotiations for the next round of TV rights were his reasons given as to why he forced his way back into the company.
The Meeting
CNBC reports WWE is set to meet with potential buyers for the company next month in preparation for first-round bids. However, there is no guarantee that a sale will happen.
Also, in February, it was reported that McMahon was seeking as much as $9 billion in a sale. As of this writing, WWE has a market value of about $6 billion.
WWE announced on January 12 that they had “engaged with outside advisors to review strategic alternatives in relation to upcoming media rights negotiations.”
One of their strategic alternatives is a potential sale of the company ahead of their TV rights talks for WWE Raw and WWE SmackDow. FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch said this week that they’re ready to talk with WWE about the media rights, but the talks have yet to take place.
The WWE traffic accident case was closed on March 7th in Florida Middle District Court regarding the lawsuit brought against WWE regarding a 2019 traffic accident in Tampa.
The jury trial occurred after a lawsuit was filed against them by Jackson Parsons, who was injured in the accident. His representation convinced a jury to side with them, resulting in WWE being forced to pay $331,800 to Jackson. The percentage was based on the level of negligence in the incident.
The jury ruled that the negligence by WWE led to Jackson being injured. However, Jackson’s own negligence was a factor in the incident taking place as they stated that Jackson held 65% of the negligence while WWE was responsible for 35%.
The Lawsuit
Parsons filed the lawsuit in June 2021 after the incident took place in July 2019 where he alleged that a van rented by the company with a driver who was a WWE employee and prop expert, Gaitan Thomas, “who was on the job at the time” was involved in a traffic accident with Parsons, who had been riding a bicycle.
Parsons claimed he “suffered physical injuries, pain-and-suffering, disability and the inability and loss of the capacity to lead and enjoy normal life, inconvenience, disfigurement, scarring and mental anguish.” He also cited “suffered physical injuries, pain-and-suffering, disability and the inability and loss of the capacity to lead and enjoy a normal life, inconvenience, disfigurement, scarring and mental anguish,” while saying his injuries and suffering are permanent. He also claimed he has incurred past medical expenses and will incur future medical expenses on account of the motor vehicle accident, and that he has suffered “a loss of earnings and earning capacity, both in the past and in the future.”
Parsons had been looking for $76,500.00 for pain and suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience, and $401,500 for future pain and suffering.
WWE’s efforts to legalize gambling on its matches continue as the company has registered with another state in addition to the previously reported Colorado and Michigan.
As previously reported by CNBC on Wednesday, the company has met with regulators in Colorado and Michigan regarding wagering on “high profile” WWE matches. On Thursday, the same media outlet updated its report to confirm that the company registered with the Indiana Gaming Commission.
Consideration?
The Colorado Division of Gaming told CNBC that it is currently not even considering the idea of legalized wagering on WWE matches. The Colorado Division of Gaming also noted that the state has a statute that prohibits gambling on predetermined contests such as awards shows or, in this case, pro wrestling.
Should the Michigan Gaming Control Board approve legalized wagering on WWE matches, that information will be made public on the organization’s Sports Wagering Catalog.
To get this pushed through, WWE has partnered with the accounting firm Ernest & Young to secure match results and demonstrate to regulators that gambling on predetermined contests can be done safely.
It was a logical partnership as the firm already works to secure results for predetermined contests, including the Academy Awards.
WWE has proposed that to get this through, they will have match results locked in months ahead of the bouts taking place as a way to prevent the results from being leaked to the public, leading to wrestlers involved in the matches not knowing until right before the match takes place.
Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of FOX, is ready to engage in talks with WWE regarding their partnership together.
On Thursday, Morgan Stanley TMT held a media and telecom conference where Murdoch spoke and was asked about the evolution of the partnership with the wrestling promotion.
That partnership sees FOX air SmackDown every Friday night. It initially included the WWE Backstage show that aired on FS1, but it was canceled.
The Partnership
Murdoch would not describe it as an ‘evolution’ of the partnership but praised WWE for being great partners.
Regarding the potential sale of WWE, he noted that he hopes the new buyers keep the current management team together because they’ve done a great job from his point of view.
“So, I don’t think it’s an evolution of the partnership (between FOX & WWE). I think they’ve been great partners. They’ve been great partners throughout our partnership, our relationship. If they ultimately sell the business, I hope the acquirer, I’m sure they’ll be as good a partner as they’ve been. I hope the management team stays intact because they’ve done a tremendous job. From a rights point of view, we’re focused on their rights renewal. We’re ready. We haven’t engaged with them on the rights yet. We’re ready to engage with them when they ask, when they’re ready. But ultimately, our appetite for a renewal depends on what happens with the rest of our sports portfolio.”
FOX’s deal for SmackDown expires next year, but negotiations are expected to start later this year.
WWE is looking to work with gambling regulators as a way to allow fans to legally bet on matches.
Alex Sherman of CNBC reported today that WWE has had talks with regulators in the states of Colorado and Michigan about legalized betting on “high-profile matches.”
The report added that WWE is working with EY (Ernst & Young) to secure the secrecy of match results to show the regulators that betting would not be impacted by results leaking before the bouts take place.
Other Possibilities
The report noted that should WWE be able to get this legalized then it could open the door for “legalized betting on other guarded, secret scripted events, such as future character deaths in TV series.”
The story added, “Allowing gambling on certain WWE matches would alter how matches are produced – and how storylines are created. In discussions about how gambling on wrestling could work, WWE executives have proposed that scripted results of matches be locked in months ahead of time, according to people familiar with the matter. The wrestlers themselves wouldn’t know whether they were winning or losing until shortly before a match takes place, said the people.”
WWE entered into an agreement with DraftKings in 2021 by naming them as their official gaming partner, which allows for free-to-play pools with DraftKings.
WWE CEO Nick Khan has publicly commented on when the possibility of a WWE sale will happen.
Khan appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about Thursday’s earnings call. During it, he noted that he feels a sale of the company will happen “quick” and speculated it might be a done deal within three months.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter had previously reported the company had been hoping to sell by mid-summer.
Co-host David Faber told Khan that he has heard “probably not at this point” regarding Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, buying WWE. NBCU has had a longtime partnership with WWE and currently has the TV rights to WWE Raw, NXT, and WWE Network content on Peacock in the United States.
Another co-host mentioned the likes of Amazon and Netflix could be buyers, while Faber also brought up Endeavor, who owns the UFC.
Khan added that “we’re still bullish on Comcast being possible.” He mentioned they got a warm reception in the marketplace for those who are interested and they want to get a sale done before the TV rights deal not to eliminate any potential buyers.
Khan doubled down on his previous comments from the earnings call that Vince McMahon is willing not to be part of the company if the buyer doesn’t want him part of it.
A CNBC article noted that “McMahon’s potential future involvement in WWE has become an early sticking point in preliminary talks with various buyers, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.”
Cody Rhodes has nothing but praise for WWE’s Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard.
As noted, Rhodes won this year’s 2023 Royal Rumble match, punching his ticket to WrestleMania this April. Rhodes made his return in the match after missing several months due to a torn pectoral muscle.
While he was away, Rhodes admitted in a post-Rumble interview with Ariel Helwani that he did, indeed, have doubts before making his return. However, those were dispelled thanks to support from the likes of Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard.
“I was embarrassed, I really was. I was on top of my game. All the measurables of, ‘this is working, we’re selling this, people are tuning in.’ I’m doing it. Then I got hurt bench pressing at my gym. Probably a lot of wrestling was involved in that, but I didn’t know. I was just embarrassed. I’m really sorry. I am.
“I didn’t want to leave. I had almost a 30-minute match and then had to go get surgery. I was embarrassed. That was one time where I thought, ‘I’m worried now. Maybe I don’t have it.’ Everyone has doubts, even the most confident people. Maybe I didn’t have it. I’ll tell you two people that really kept me in check, Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard. I don’t know why they have reputations.
“They’ve been nothing but angels to me. Nick and Bruce don’t see Dusty (Rhodes) when they see me, they see me. That’s big. That’s big with me. They kept me on and never told me, ‘You’re going to do this, this is going to happen.’ Just, ‘get better, get well, we need you back, we’re going to go for it,’ but we never talked about what it was. To be able to come back and punch this ticket, Thank God, just have to stay healthy.”
Now after winning the Rumble, Rhodes will likely go on to headline WrestleMania opposite Roman Reigns for one of his two World Titles. Rhodes has been adamant that his biggest goal upon his WWE return is to win the World Title for the first time in his career.
It will be interesting to see if he can make it happen this year at “The Show Of Shows.”
WWE CEO Nick Khan has come a long way in his few years with the promotion, but he doesn’t consider himself the top dog.
Khan joined WWE in the summer of 2020 as the company’s president, replacing Michelle Wilson and George Barrios who had departed earlier that year.
Following Vince McMahon’s resignation in 2022, Khan was appointed co-CEO with Stephanie McMahon and now serves as the promotion’s sole CEO.
The Boss
Khan’s rise to the top of WWE has been unparallel in the company’s history, but even he acknowledges Vince McMahon as the head of the company.
On the Bill Simmons podcast, Khan spoke about the hierarchy in WWE and knows that he is not on top.
“My thought has always been that there’s only one boss at WWE and it ain’t me. Vince is obviously the founder, the creator of the company. He’s also the controlling shareholder, which is not a ‘work’ term. It’s a legal term. So it was always my point of view and Stephanie’s point of view that he would come back.
“There’s only one boss at WWE and it ain’t me.”
Nick Khan.
“I think the way he played it, to me, was smart. He went away for five, six months. The audience seems to like when somebody does that. He came back and took control back of his company as the controlling shareholder. It is a public company, it is a publicly-traded company. But with that controlling share, gave him a lot of authority and he used it and I applaud him for doing so.”
Retirement
For decades, it was assumed that Vince McMahon would never retire from WWE given his workaholic attitude.
Once he did retire, WWE’s entire corporate system needed changing, and at the time, many felt that the board of directors, now against McMahon due to the allegations of misconduct, forced him out of the door.
On the podcast, Khan refuted the idea that McMahon was forced out by anyone other than what he personally believed.
I didn’t see it as a force. I think Vince saw, the tonnage of things that were coming at him and us. One thing he’s always said, you’ll know as a long-time fan and I’m a long-time fan also, is he’ll do whatever is best for business. Whether it’s bringing the Ultimate Warrior back twenty years ago (referencing Warrior’s 1996 WWF return) or whatever it may be.
“I think at that moment in time, what was best for business was for him to step away for a while. So he did, and he really did step away. There was no ‘hey why are you doing this,’ or ‘I wouldn’t do it this way.’ It was, in my opinion, total freedom, for Stephanie, myself, and Triple H on the creative side.”
The Future
Once McMahon retired, fans thought that they would never see him again, only to be proven wrong by the 77-year-old billionaire for the second time.
Speaking about what the future may bring, Khan was optimistic that McMahon’s return will make a potential sale of WWE all the easier.
“It’s only been a week, but he really, I believe, what he said publicly about ‘hey, I’m here to engage in strategic alternatives and the media rights,’ so far the engagement has been that, and other board issues.”
“WWE is Vince. Vince is WWE.”
Nick Khan.
“It’s his company. To me, WWE is Vince. Vince is WWE and we’re going to do the best we can to keep a living company.”
When asked about McMahon reportedly speaking to multiple departments, Khan said there has been “zero” interactions between McMahon and the company’s creative team.
WWE is still on the market following premature reports of a sale, but higher-ups in the company hope this won’t be the case for long.
Last week, Vince McMahon returned to WWE to oversee a sale of the company but has since been appointed as Executive Chairman of the board.
Names reportedly interested in purchasing WWE include Comcast, FOX, Netflix, Amazon, and Disney, among others.
Nick Khan
This week, it was reported that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund had purchased the promotion, but it was later clarified that a sale hasn’t happened yet.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that WWE CEO Nick Khan was recently in the vicinity of some influential names.
“Nick Khan was in Los Angeles when I was in Los Angeles…One hotel over from me. I didn’t know it at the time. Nick Khan went to football game Monday night, so he wasn’t on RAW.
“he met with some heavy hitters, cause heavy hitters went to the college football championship game. Bob Iger [CEO of The Walt Disney Company,] Jimmy Pitaro [CEO of ESPN] so, I guess those names will ring some bells.”
Dave Meltzer.
Summer
There was a time when the sale of WWE seemed impossible, but now Vince McMahon and others are eager to make it happen.
On his show, Meltzer gave a timeline as to when to expect a deal to be reached.
“They are looking to sell by the middle of the year. JPMorgan is helping them.”
Dave Meltzer.
Neither WWE nor the Saudi Public Investment Fund have commented on the reports of a deal between the two parties.
Following the news that Vince McMahon would be returning to the company as a member of the board of directors, WWE hired JPMorgan to advise on a potential sale of the company.
McMahon claimed that he was returning to WWE to help assist WWE in their media rights negotiations.
While speaking on What Happened When, Conrad Thompson said a WWE sale has been brewing for a while. He also noted that when Nick Khan first joined WWE as an agent to help negotiate the TV deals that they eventually landed with FOX and NBC Universal, he heard an interesting thing. That was when Khan made a deal with Vince that he would get paid big money should he help with a sale of the company.
The Claim
“My friend was represented by the same company that Nick Khan was sort of running, and when my friend sees that the guy who runs this big agency is now going to WWE, he thought, ‘What the f**k? This doesn’t make any sense.’ So he called his contact and said, ‘Dude, what’s up with Nick going, blah, blah, blah.’ He said, and this is years ago now, ‘Yea. He’s got a deal with Vince where in his contract, he gets a big payday when he helps facilitate the sale.’ He told me the number, and I won’t say the number because that’s talking about somebody’s money and that’s not cool, but let’s just say this, it’s more than AEW’s TV contract is for a year. It’s a lot. It’s a lot, a lot. So when you hear it’s a lot, a lot, you think, ‘Well why would this guy go here?’, Ah ha, and now, Ta Da. I’ve heard backchanneling before Mean Gene passed away, he said, ‘Well, I heard from’, and I won’t say who he heard it from, ‘When the stock gets to so and so,’ This has been brewing for a while. I know a lot of wrestling fans have been thinking, ‘Well this is just a brand new development.’ It’s years old.”
In 2020, Khan joined WWE as President & Chief Revenue Officer. He previously worked for CAA.
He also helped negotiate media rights deals for top companies such as Top Rank Boxing and the Southeastern Conference.
WWE’s new regime may have big plans internationally, but don’t count on seeing a promotion be acquired anytime soon.
Last month, WWE co-CEOs Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan appeared at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit to address plans in the post-Vince McMahon era.
At the event, Stephanie McMahon spoke about plans for WWE to branch out “international is the focus for us.”
Problems
WWE’s plans to stretch its reach even further across the world is nothing new, but the company has yet to establish its brand with a promotion outside of the U.S. and the UK.
Speaking on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why WWE will continue to struggle.
“The key is that they have a lot of money right now, and so they want to do mergers and acquisitions and stuff like that. Their business is wrestling so they’re looking at buying some wrestling companies. Them trying to run something in Mexico is probably a bad idea.
Japanese companies do not want to sell to Americans.
Dave Meltzer on one of WWE’s potential struggles for global expansion.
“Them buying a Japanese company [is a bad idea] if they can because it’s already so hard. Japanese companies do not want to sell to Americans. It’s hard to do. They tried to buy Stardom, but Stardom sold to Bushiroad. They tried to buy NOAH, but NOAH sold to [CyberFight.] There are a million companies in Japan they could buy. I suppose they could run them, but there’s not really a lot of money to be made. I think they would screw up in Mexico. I don’t think they would understand the culture, and Japan has an even more difficult culture to understand than Mexico.”
Boxing
WWE’s talk of branching out internationally is nothing new, but talk about boxing took everyone by surprise.
At the event, McMahon said that WWE is interested in getting into the world of professional boxing, saying it would need to line up with WWE’s standards.
On his show, Meltzer explained that boxing is an industry WWE would be wise to avoid.
Boxing would be the one that would surprise me. Dana White is a big Boxing fan and for years he’s talked about doing something in boxing. And when push came to shove [he didn’t.] If you want to get into boxing, you have two choices. You either work at such a small level and make no money, or you try and do something at the big level. And the problem is at the big level there’s high risk because the guarantees for the big-name fighters are so high. They’re way higher than UFC guys are used to paying their fighters. And they are WAY higher than WWE is used to paying.
“I don’t know if that’s a business they want to get into. Especially right now.”
Dave Meltzer.
“I don’t know if that’s a business they want to get into. Especially right now, because boxing’s not really that popular. They have a few names that are big. If they go into the gimmick side, they are late in the game. We’ve already seen the Anderson Silva Vs. Jake Paul Pay-Per-View didn’t do well.”
Meltzer concluded that he expects WWE to back off the idea of getting into boxing once they have a closer look at the financials of the matter.
WWE Co-Chief Executive Officer & Director Nick Khan has signed a new long-term contract with the company.
Khan put pen to paper back on October 19, According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The deal runs through August 5, 2025.
The terms of the new agreement include a base salary of $1,350,000 per year, but there are several more components to his compensation package. Khan will also receive stock grants of $3,575,000 per year and has an annual target bonus of an additional $2,160,000.
Nick Khan
Khan received $15 million in stock when he first joined WWE in 2020 as company President. He quickly became one of the most powerful players in the entire industry, and now serves as Co-CEO along with Stephanie McMahon.
Nick Khan has helped lead WWE during a very prosperous time and is credited with helping the company secure various lucrative business deals. WWE stock was around $45/share when he joined the company over two years ago. Today, it’s priced around $75, a very healthy 66% increase. The stock is up 50.24% year-to-date, as of this writing.
WWE’s Executive Team
WWE’s executive team has undergone a significant shakeup over the past few years, with high-profile departures including Vince McMahon, and former co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
The following is an updated look at WWE’s executive structure, as of November 4, 2022:
The UFC is connected to pro wrestling as it has elements of the drama that wrestling uses for its storylines. In wrestling, the storylines are scripted, while in MMA, the promotion uses storylines from real life to promote its fights.
Since 2020 when WWE began releasing wrestlers, on-air talent, employees, and production staff, rumors of WWE potentially selling the company ramped up.
Many fans have speculated that Vince McMahon made Nick Khan the President & Chief Revenue Officer of WWE after he helped negotiate its US television rights deal with NBCUniversal and FOX, to prepare the company for a sale. Key figures, including Khan, Vince McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon, have publicly stated that they’re open to hearing an offer regarding a sale.
Endeavor President Speaks
On Thursday, Endeavor President Mark Shapiro appeared on Matthew Belloni’s The Town podcast and expressed interest in buying WWE. He also spoke highly of Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s relationship with WWE, Khan, Vince, Stephanie, and others.
“That would be something that would be interesting and worth exploring,” said Shaprio. “Would we buy it? Who knows? Last I checked, it wasn’t for sale. “We’re interested in anything in the owned sports properties segment.”
Endeavor closed a deal to obtain a controlling interest in the UFC back in 2016 for just over $4 billion. WWE’s current market cap is estimated to be $5.63 billion.
With WWE’s US TV rights renewal coming up in approximately mid-2023, a potential buyer might think the time is right to buy the company as WWE has been able to get higher increases each deal for its rights.
Currently, FOX has the broadcasting rights to Friday Night SmackDown, while NBCUniversal hosts Monday Night Raw. Both television deals will be up at the end of 2024.
