Vince McMahon’s blunt force return to the executive chair of World Wrestling Entertainment’s board was inevitable. Outside a criminal conviction and Vince being put in prison, he was always coming back from the hush fund scandal.
The bump in the stock price over the last two working days shouldn’t fool anyone – McMahon doesn’t care about their best interests, and what he wants often conflicts with his own best interest. McMahon’s payoffs for various affairs with female employees had to be documented and accounted for with the Securities and Exchange Commission after he left WWE in the summer. Criminal allegations against McMahon for sexual assault have gone back to the 1980s, including various Non-Disclosure Agreements that former WWE employees have signed. As of now, four women have said McMahon forced them to perform oral sex on them. One worked at a tanning salon in Boca Raton, Fla., and had filed a report. The other – which had came to light recently in early December – accused him of assaulting a spa manager at a resort in San Diego in 2011. The other two – in 1986, and the other in the mid 2000s – came from former employees.
McMahon’s return was always going to happen. He wasn’t going to let the his own sordid and horrid past keep him from doing what he wants with his wrestling company. That the company had turned its ratings and creative fortunes around under Nick Khan, his daughter Stephanie and his son-in-law Paul Levesque – who replaced McMahon in creative – probably infuriated him. His assurances of not disrupting the current management team are absurd – he will likely take over creative as soon as he possibly can. Even if this costs them a chance at booking The Rock for a feud against Roman Reigns, or any more appearances from John Cena.
There’s no other reason for these board moves by him if he wasn’t going to otherwise. McMahon told the board and management he only plans to be there to initiate a sale for the company, something he would have to be there to do anyway. In fact, when McMahon was investigated and kicked out last summer, the board said they would include McMahon on any negotations for media rights or a sale, and said he would be integral and needed voice – especially since he owns most of the company’s stock.
McMahon’s stock position guarantees he’s part and partial to any media or sale talks, so his return is obviously not linked to that.
What McMahon wants is to not to, “eat his cake and have it, too,” he wants to sell his cake and still eat it. He wants a buyer that will let him run the day to day operations of the company – after giving him several billion dollars for the company.
WWE Sale
WWE has been exploring a potential sale since the early-to-mid 2010s. Peak interest began in 2016 when Ultimate Fighting Championship sold for a surprising $4 billion. Also part of that deal, then president Dana White (who didn’t own the company, but had breathed life back into it during the early 2000s and made it a massive success in the following years), stayed on board to continue managing the company.
For years, that made the magic number for a WWE sale $4 billion, if not more. That UFC is now a more valuable product doesn’t matter, to McMahon its about his ego, and that was the number he wanted for a sale at the time, though it wasn’t official. The best time to sell the company was in 2018 when it had negotiated new TV and multi-media deals with Viacom and FOX. WWE later negotiated with Viacom to add the WWE Network streaming service to the Peacock app, handing over years of content.
McMahon said he believes this time – coinciding with their 2024 media rights negotiation – is the time to sell, which is ironic given this was what wrestling business insiders had said after WWE completed its last deal. The company’s seemingly bulletproof profitability – especially after trifling and morally questionable cost-cutting during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 – has only grown.
Alex Sherman of CNBC.com said if a sale occurs, it would most likely happen in the next three-to-six months. Sherman said WWE’s market cap is around $6 billion after the bump its stock took after news of a sale hit the news. This is the number various sources said WWE is looking to get. The company hired JPMorgan Chase to advise, though how much advising they’ll be allowed is another question. Sherman said a sale would likely have major strings attached from McMahon’s side.
McMahon’s potential buyers will have one particular string that would be too much – McMahon himself. Likely any deal would include keeping him with the company as president and creative head. Levesque’s ratings success over the past six months put a huge dent into the fantasy that only McMahon can make a major pro wrestling company into a multi-media success, a legend that Tony Khan and All-Elite Wrestling have already chopped down over the last three years. For years, many debated if anyone other than McMahon could run he company, and that question was answered. McMahon could have sold the company at numerous times during the last several years, now he’s counting on the expense of rights deals to push media companies into just purchasing his company whole.
Potential Buyers
Who would buy WWE? There would be numerous interested companies from all over the world – some more likely than others.
NBC Universal
Comcast and its parent company – NBC Universal – would be the likely top destination for WWE. The two companies have a relationship back to the 1980s and the first Saturday Night’s Main Event. WWE programming has also been on NBCU owned USA Network for the same period of time, outside one contract in the 2000s when WWE was on Spike TV. McMahon has relationships with NBCU that have lasted decades. WWE Network content also is on its Peacock streaming network. NBCU is already paying billions to air WWE programming – why not buy the whole thing? The biggest concern for NBCU would be losing thousands of hours of WWE programming if its bought by a competitor. Live sports and wrestling have maintained their ratings better than traditional scripted TV – even most reality TV.
WarnerDiscovery
AEW fans would go into a panic if WarnerDiscovery bought AEW, but it’s highly doubtful the company would fold or would leave major cable TV. AEW was negotiating with Showtime before it aired its first episode of Dynamite on TNT or made an official announcement of its existence. With the company’s solid ratings and with a rights deal that would be much more affordable and more “bank for the buck” than a deal with WWE, AEW would have suitors. New Japan Pro Wrestling had interests from several major media companies when it began probing for a US TV deal last year – including ESPN – but was locked out of landing in many spots because of its TV deal in Japan.
Warner missed out on WWE during the last negotiations in 2018. This is one reason the network became home to AEW. WWE Network would also be a major content addition to HBO MAX. But it also comes to costs, something WarnerDiscovery has been slashing as well as its own content on its streaming platform. WWE Network content comes with many residuals to be paid, something that WarnerDiscovery is trying to shed on its own content.
FOX
WWE would be a major pickup for FOX for various reasons. The company already airs Smackdown on its major OTA network on Friday nights. A purchase would be a massive boost to its streaming applications across the board and take away a certified hit show from its NBCU competitor. Not to mention the PPV’s that would also be a huge streaming driver for FOX.
Disney
Disney has the strongest content library in the game, not to mention he numerous networks it owns. It’s biggest competitor is NBCU. Grabbing WWE would be a major get for Disney, which could add Raw and Smackdown to ESPN easily with the Disney+ app building up its massive library with another huge purchase of content, like it did with the purchase of FOX’s movie studios in 2019. Sherman said returning CEO Bob Iger is always looking to make an IP slash and taking WWE from NBCU would also be a bit of a get back for Iger, who purchased FOX after NBCU drove the cost up tens of millions.
The Saudis
The controversial relationship between WWE and Saudi Arabia has also been a profitable one. WWE has made more money off its shows in Saudi Arabia then in any of its other endeavours, including every single WrestleMania. Saudi’s PIF hedge fund told Front Office Sports its interested in buying the company from McMahon. It would likely be the company most comfortable with McMahon maintaining a presence on screen and off.
PIF also has the cash – about $620 billion in cash, according to Front Office Sports – and has already dipped its toe into American sports with its LIV Golf tour, which drew away several stars from the PGA. The hedge fund also owns Premier League’s Newcastle United.
The sale would be a PR nightmare, not that McMahon would mind. Some of his own wrestlers won’t work its events in Saudi Arabia, something that has been an issue with stockholders. There’s also the Saudi government holding WWE’s roster virtual hostage at an airport aboard a plane a couple years ago.
The biggest problem for PIF – where do you broadcast it? The potential PR fallout may not be worth WWE’s big ratings for US streamers and media companies.