WWE CEO On Rights Talks & Pending UFC Deal As Q2 Sales, Profits Jump; Vince McMahon On Medical Leave After Spinal Surgery

deadline.com:

WWE set viewership records last quarter as revenue jumped 25% and the company’s planned merger with Endeavor’s UFC announced in April remains on track to close in the second half of 2023.

Media sales jumped more than 30% to $320 million, revenue from live events surged 50% to $62 million. WWE CEO Nick Khan called the UFC deal “historic,” creating a “one-of-a-kind global sports and entertainment company.” The combination will create a new public entity, one of the few standalone public companies in sports and entertainment, run by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.

The new company, valued at $21 billion, will be a subsidiary of Endeavor, with 51%, and the other 49% controlled by WWE. Khan told investors on a conference call after the numbers that Vince McMahon, WWE’s executive chairman, had major spinal surgery two weeks ago and is currently out on a medical leave of absence.

The longtime former CEO and majority shareholder grew the company into a global powerhouse. He stepped back last year amid a probe over sexual misconduct and payouts to women, but returned to the board in January and announced a strategic review that led to the UFC deal.