Yesterday a bombshell dropped in the wrestling and combat sports World which is sure to change the landscape of WWE as we know it. WWE is not a family business anymore as they have been bought by Endeavor for a whopping $9.3 Billion. There is a lot of speculation as to who might buy WWE as the sale negotiations were going on for a while and there were a lot of other suitors but Vince McMahon decided to go with Endeavor.
There are two aspects to this story and both will be covered in separate articles. In this one the details about the WWE sale will be covered, so let’s get to the details.
The Sale
First let’s talk about the actual sale and all the numbers. WWE had a market cap of $6.5 Billion and it was expected that around $8 Billion will be paid for WWE but Endeavor clearly saw a big opportunity and they splurged $9.3 Billion which is way more than their market value. Endeavor will form a new company merging WWE and UFC and In that new company WWE shareholders will have a 49% stake and out of the 11 board members 5 will be from WWE and 6 will be from Endeavor and a total combined value of $21.4 Billion will be the worth of the new company. The transaction is supposed to be completed by the end of 2023.
The Powers that be In the new deal
Other than the sale details the new power structure has also been announced and as far as WWE is concerned Vince McMahon will be the executive chairman and Nick Khan will be the president of the WWE in the new company as well. Nick Khan will get $15 million in bonus and Triple H will get $5 million in bonus for their contribution towards making the deal happen. And Ari Emmanuel will be the Chief Executive of this whole operation and everyone will report to him.
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The advantages of the new deal
There are a lot of advantages for all parties in this new deal and they are as follows –
1) WWE is now a $9.3 Billion company which is far more than their shareholder worth. And all the working class will get more money as a result.
2) Endeavor has now entered the Wrestling space and WWE has a big and loyal fanbase and all those fans will now be there with Endeavor as well meaning new eyes for the product.
3) Endeavor could use WWE’s marketing tricks and their style of presentation and use it in other programming that they have. This will improve the overall presentation of the product.
4) The media rights deal of WWE will be more beneficial for all parties involved and Endeavor can leverage for more money as well.
5) There are more opportunities for sponsorships in the long run which will mean more money for WWE.
The Challenges in the new deal –
1) The sale of WWE will mean layoffs in all departments and this means hard working people will lose their jobs and that is never a good thing for any new company.
2) The challenge will be to keep the overall flow and presentation of WWE as it was before and to keep the fans engaged the quality of the product has to be great .
3) When there are disagreements among WWE and Endeavor then a solution to the problem has to be found out or else it can create a problematic situation.
4) The PPVs should not be too costly as the WWE fans are used to not paying big prices for their shows and so the viewership could be down. The pricing for the consumer has to be affordable.
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