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Showing posts with label Stephanie McMahon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephanie McMahon. Show all posts

March 11, 2024

More WWE Executives Revealed As Key Figures In McMahon Sex Trafficking Suit; WWE Responds

More names have been revealed as part of the ongoing sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis WWE, and unnamed corporate officers.

A new report from Tim Marchman, John Pollock, and Brandon Thurston for Front Office Sports has named President Nick Khan and COO Brad Blum as those identified as Corporate Officers No.1 and No. 2 in the suit filed by Janel Grant in January.
Before their naming in the report, Khan and Blum were alleged to have been instrumental to a scheme in which Grant had been employed in a completely undefined role, except for the understanding that she would remain a sexual slave to be used and trafficked by McMahon within WWE. Khan and Blum are not personally accused of sexual wrongdoing but they are rather part of a group that is claimed to have facilitated and covered up exploitation in a way that would make WWE liable under federal anti-trafficking law.

Front Office Sports' report notes that Blum and Khan were identified independently alongside the two other anonymous corporate officers described in the suit by cross-referencing details within the filing with other records like online resumes and corporate filings. A WWE source also reportedly confirmed details within the suit, such as the location of Khan's office. All names were confirmed with Janel Grant's attorney, Ann Callis.

According to the suit, McMahon presented Blum and Khan to Grant as his key fixers. Nick Khan is the current WWE President under TKO's hierarchy following the merger with UFC last year and has been instrumental in the business growth behind the company in recent years.

The report continues to name Stephanie McMahon as Corporate Officer No.3 within the filing, who is mentioned once in an ambiguous context. It's told how Grant had attended meetings with WWE's executive committee, which was noted to be above her pay grade and something she had even inquired to Khan and Blum about regarding appropriateness. The suit alleged Stephanie McMahon had motioned for Grant to sit near her in these meetings. Ms. McMahon is also described as knowing of "other instances of [Vince] McMahon engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct".

Stephanie McMahon notably took a leave of absence in 2022 – three months after Vince McMahon and Janel Grant signed their $3 million NDA – from her role as Chief Brand Officer. A month later, reports emerged on a probe by the WWE board of directors into unauthorized payments involving NDAs with several former female employees and performers made by Vince McMahon, after which he resigned from his roles as CEO and Chairman and Stephanie McMahon became interim CEO and Chair. When Vince McMahon forced his way back onto the board in early 2023, Stephanie McMahon resigned from her role as Co-CEO – held alongside Nick Khan – and has not returned.

Front Office Sports further identified Brian Nurse – former general counsel and head of WWE's legal department – as Corporate Officer No.4. Nurse is described in the suit as offering the legal role to Janel Grant at the behest of Vince McMahon, a revelation allegedly made by McMahon to Ms. Grant before he sexually assaulted her for the first time. Nurse is claimed to have been terminated or asked to resign as one of a number of employees forced to resign or let go if they knew of McMahon's exploits and failed to assist, support, or facilitate them.

In response to the report, a WWE spokesperson told FOS:
“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.”

Nick Khan, Brian Blum and Stephanie Mcmahon are not explicitly accused of wrongdoing.

January 27, 2024

End Of An Era 2.0

For the first time since its inception as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in the 1950's, the only member of the McMahon family currently with the WWE is a Levesque. End of an era.

October 25, 2023

Happy 20th Anniversary Paul and Stephanie


October 25, 2003

September 20, 2023

Details Behind Vince McMahon's WWE Ouster And Return

Last year, allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money payments forced Vince McMahon to step down from his role as WWE CEO. Though he retired for a time, it would be short-lived. McMahon was able to reinstate himself to the board earlier this year, though he remains under investigation by federal officials. A new story by the LA Times, in which the publication spoke to an "individual close to the board," features new insight into the company's internal investigation into McMahon and more.

According to the LA Times report, McMahon initially told the board he wouldn't stand in the way of their investigation into his actions. Additionally, McMahon reportedly agreed to step down from the board voluntarily, with some reluctance, while also claiming that each of the described encounters had been consensual and the payoffs had only been a matter of "protecting the company against potential litigation."

However, by December, McMahon had seemingly changed his mind about stepping to the side. McMahon sent a pair of letters to the company's board, informing them of his intent to return to shepherd a sale. Though the company's board, which at the time featured Stephanie McMahon and her husband Paul "Triple H" Levesque, voted unanimously against McMahon's return, the 78-year-old was able to use his voting power as a majority stockholder to replace two members and get himself back on the board.

The report indicates that McMahon viewed the internal investigation as being disloyal, and two more board members resigned in the aftermath of McMahon's return. Since then, McMahon was true to his word on setting the company up for a sale, with WWE and UFC merging into TKO Group Holdings, made official earlier this month. Under the new corporate infrastructure, McMahon remains in power, serving as the Executive Chairman.

September 12, 2023

Endeavor Announces Close of UFC® And WWE® Transaction To Create TKO Group Holdings, A Premium Sports And Entertainment Company



Endeavor Announces Close of UFC® and WWE® Transaction to Create TKO Group Holdings, a Premium Sports and Entertainment Company

New Company to Begin Trading Today, September 12, on the New York Stock Exchange Under “TKO” Ticker Symbol

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) (“Endeavor”) and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (previously NYSE: WWE) (“WWE”) today announced the close of their previously announced agreement and the launch of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) (“TKO”).

TKO brings together UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and WWE, an integrated media organization and the recognized global leader in sports entertainment, to create a new premium sports and entertainment company serving more than one billion young and diverse fans1, reaching viewers in 180 countries, and producing more than 350 annual live events. Through this combination, TKO will leverage Endeavor’s expertise in areas including domestic and international media rights, ticket sales and yield optimization, event operations, global partnerships, licensing, and premium hospitality to drive revenue growth.

“The creation of TKO marks an exciting new chapter for UFC and WWE as leaders in global sports and entertainment,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor and TKO. “Given their continued connectivity to the Endeavor network, we are confident in our ability to accelerate their respective growth and unlock long-term sustainable value for shareholders. With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide.”

“This is the culmination of a decades-long partnership between Endeavor and WWE across strategic initiatives including talent representation and media rights. Given our collaborative, trusted relationship and Endeavor’s incredible track record of success growing UFC, we believe WWE is optimally positioned for future growth and success as part of TKO,” said Vince McMahon, Executive Chairman of TKO. “Our focus remains on delivering for our fans across the globe as we take the business to the next level alongside UFC and Endeavor.”

TKO will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TKO,” with Endeavor holding a 51% controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders holding a 49% interest in the new company, on a fully diluted basis.


As previously announced, TKO is led by:


Ariel Emanuel, Chief Executive Officer, who continues as Chief Executive Officer of Endeavor;

Mark Shapiro, President and Chief Operating Officer, who continues as President and Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor;

Andrew Schleimer, Chief Financial Officer; and

Seth Krauss, Chief Legal Officer, who continues as Chief Legal Officer of Endeavor.

Dana White is now Chief Executive Officer of UFC and Lawrence Epstein remains Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UFC. Nick Khan continues at WWE in the role of President.


The Board of Directors of TKO is led by Vince McMahon as Executive Chairman of the Board and consists of 11 members, including Mr. Emanuel, Mr. Shapiro, and Mr. Khan, in addition to the following directors:


Peter C.B. Bynoe, Senior Advisor at DLA Piper LLP;

Egon P. Durban, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Silver Lake;

Steven R. Koonin, Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Hawks, LLC;

Jonathan A. Kraft, President of the Kraft Group LLC;

Sonya E. Medina, President and Chief Executive Officer of Reach Resilience;

Nancy R. Tellem, Executive Chairperson and Chief Media Officer of Eko; and

Carrie Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of Opendoor Technologies Inc.

September 11, 2023

End Of An Era




Tonight's WWE Raw will be the last WWE show under the full majority control of Vince McMahon. End of an era.

August 14, 2023

WWE Admits That Stephanie McMahon Spoke With Tubi Executive, Denies MLW’s Claim

WWE has formally denied allegations made against the company by Major League Wrestling after MLW filed an antitrust lawsuit against WWE in 2022. The lawsuit, which has since been amended and filed again after being dismissed last year, stemmed from MLW's claims that WWE prevented it from competing in the streaming market. MLW alleged that WWE pressured third parties to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with the company.

Wrestlenomics' Brandon Thurston posted a portion of new court filings to Twitter on Monday. In the documents, WWE denied the allegations. but did confirm that Stephanie McMahon spoke with a Tubi executive in August 2021. The filing denies that she pressured the streaming platform to kill a deal with MLW. The full court document can be seen online.

MLW's lawsuit alleges that Stephanie McMahon pressured the Tubi executive to "deny MLW a time slot that would compete head-to-head with WWE's NXT programs on Tuesday nights." It goes on to say "WWE threatened Tubi's affiliate, Fox, that it could lose WWE's business or preferred content if Tubi didn't acquiesce to WWE's demand and terminate its agreement with MLW." WWE formally denied these accusations.

There's no end in sight for the legal battle between WWE and MLW. According to the new filing, WWE has demanded a jury trial on "all issues so triable" in the Northern District of California where the antitrust lawsuit was filed.


August 11, 2023

Details On Endeavor Deal, WWE-UFC Merger And Plans For NXT

Following the news from earlier this week that the WWE-UFC merger under Endeavor is expected to close next month, Dave Meltzer's latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter offers up some additional details. The report states that layoffs and other efforts to save money are expected to begin within the company very soon. Additionally, Meltzer indicates that people within Endeavor are hoping to work with WWE to make NXT more of a "sustainable third brand."

The idea behind that is to increase the show's ratings, allowing it to bring in higher TV rights fees. According to Meltzer, the company hopes to make NXT a touring brand once again, with both live events and TV taped on the road. However, there is no timeline for when this will become a reality.

As for the previously discussed revival of "NXT U.K.," there is reportedly an idea for a full-time Performance Center in London, as well as the introduction of a new show focused on all of Europe. However, there will be no updates on that until at least next year.

WWE's stock price hit another record-high earlier this week, reaching $114 per share, giving the company a market valuation of nearly $8.5 billion. When the dust settles, the board of TKO will include six individuals from Endeavor and five from WWE. On the WWE side, that includes both Vince McMahon and current WWE CEO Nick Khan, as well as Steve Koonin, Nancy Teliem, and one more individual who has yet to be revealed.

In addition to remaining on the Board of Directors, Vince McMahon will own 16.4% of the stock for the new company, which will be called TKO. Stephanie McMahon will own 1.1% while Linda McMahon will have 0.3% of the company's stock. There was no word on how many shares Shane McMahon will own.

April 26, 2023

Vince McMahon, WWE Sued by Ex-Writer Over ‘Racist’ Scene Scripts

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., Vince McMahon, and other executives allegedly discriminated and retaliated against a Black female writer for objecting to “offensively racist and stereotypical jargon” used in the scripts of Black wrestlers including Bianca Belair and Apollo Crews, according to a new lawsuit.

Britney Abrahams’ multiple complaints were ignored, and she was pretextually terminated for taking home a WrestleMania-branded chair, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Monday.

The lawsuit includes Stephanie McMahon, Chris Lubrando (SVP, Creative Writing Operations at WWE), WWE creative team members Chris Dunn, Ryan Callahan, Jen Pepperman, and former team member Mike Heller.

Abrahams began writing for WWE SmackDown! and WWE Monday Night RAW in 2020, according to the complaint. She complained of racial and gender stereotypes in scripts, including ones instructing Belair to say “Uh-Uh! Don’t make me take off my earrings and beat your ass! " and Crews to speak with a “stereotypical and exaggerated Nigerian accent,” but was rebuffed, she said.

WWE didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment.

‘Harmful Stereotypes’

She was allegedly subject to a number of racist pitches after complaining. On a Slack thread that McMahon and his daughter Stephanie McMahon were included on, other writers suggested a Black male wrestler should dress in drag. Only when a White writer noted that doing so could “perpetuate harmful stereotypes that would offend viewers” was the pitch scrapped, she said.

On another occasion, a writer allegedly proposed that a Muslim’s wrestler’s secret in a script be that he was “behind the 9/11 attacks.”

Abrahams and other writers complained about the comments, to which Vice President Christine Lubrano allegedly responded, “Wacky things are said in the writer’s room all the time!” and “I know but look at the waves we’re making in the company. 4 years ago, no woman worked on the writer’s team!”

Abrahams continued to opposed racist, sexist pitches, she said, and was fired in retaliation in April 2022. WWE fired her for taking with her a WrestleMania 38 branded chair, but the practice was allegedly a common practice that White male writers weren’t punished for.

She is seeking reinstatement, damages, declaratory judgment, and an injunction restraining defendants from engaging in such unlawful conduct.

Cochran Firm represents Abrahams.

The case is Abrahams v. World Wrestling Ent., Inc., E.D.N.Y., No. 23-cv-03109, complaint filed 4/24/23.

source: Bloomberg Law

March 29, 2023

Potential WWE Buyers May Want To See Stephanie McMahon Return




As reported earlier, on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street" Financial reporter David Faber, revealed that WWE sales talks are "going quite well" and there are several interested parties, including Endeavor, Liberty Media, and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Like Faber, WWE's CEO Nick Khan also shared a positive outcome for WWE. As reported earlier today, Khan said to the Sports Business Journal, that he thinks that WWE is "in a good position."

Fightful Select has shared more insight behind the potential WWE sale and those who are interested in the company. One insight is that business is supposed to "pick up," due to WrestleMania being in Los Angeles, California. Numerous sources that are related to the list of rumored buyers, reportedly told Fightful that they are interested in having Stephanie McMahon return. Stephanie of course stepped down as the co-CEO of WWE back in January, which made Khan the sole CEO of WWE. A source from Disney noted how "the companies are following the news cycles and are aware of what makes the audience and staff happy." Stephanie seemed to have brought a lot of positives to the company. 

Fightful also spoke with multiple sources within Comcast, though it's worth noting that CNBC in the past has stated that Comcast was not interested in buying WWE. The sources within Comcast revealed that even though they had a relationship with Vince McMahon through NBC and USA Network — there is "no desire" to keep him involved in WWE. WWE's media rights deal with Comcast also is up in 2024. 

January 12, 2023

Rumor Mill - Stephanie McMahon and Triple H had opposed a sale of WWE

Axios.com featured a piece on all the rapidly developing twists and turns within WWE corporate over the last week that originated with Vince McMahon forcing himself back into a major role in the company to potentially faciliate a sale.

Interesting to note that in their coverage, it is noted, "Sources told Axios that Stephanie McMahon and her husband Paul "Triple H" Levesque, the company's chief content officer and a retired professional wrestler, had opposed a sale."

Should that be accurate, it certainly adds a new dimension to Stephanie McMahon's decision to resign from the company earlier this week.

January 10, 2023

WWE Board of Directors unanimously elected Vince McMahon Executive Chairman of the Board; Stephanie McMahon Resigns

WWE today announced that its Board of Directors unanimously elected Vince McMahon Executive Chairman of the Board.

Stephanie McMahon has resigned from her roles as Chairwoman and Co-CEO.

Nick Khan will serve as WWE CEO.

Vince McMahon:

“First, I’d like to express my full support for Stephanie’s personal decision. I’ll forever be grateful that she offered to step in during my absence and I’m truly proud of the job she did co-leading WWE. Stephanie has always been the ultimate ambassador for our company, and her decades of contributions have left an immeasurable impact on our brand.

“I’m proud to announce that Nick Khan will serve as WWE CEO. Nick’s business acumen and mastery of the media industry have helped catapult our business to record revenue and profitability. Together, we look forward to working with the Board at this critical moment in time to review our strategic alternatives and maximize value for all WWE shareholders.”

Stephanie McMahon:

“I cannot put into words how proud I am to have helped lead what I consider to be the greatest company in the world and I am confident WWE is in the perfect position to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders.”

Nick Khan:

“Stephanie McMahon is a terrific executive and an even better person. It has been an honor to serve as Co-CEO with her. She will only continue to succeed.

“I’m grateful to Vince McMahon and our Board of Directors for their ongoing support. I look forward to continuing to work closely with them and my WWE colleagues to ensure our company may thrive as the premiere powerhouse in sports entertainment for years to come.”

January 6, 2023

WWE is providing the following update regarding the composition of its Board of Directors and the exploration of strategic alternatives

Today, we announce that the founder of WWE, Vince McMahon, will be returning to the Board,” said Chairwoman & Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon, Co-CEO Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque. “We also welcome back Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to our Board of Directors. Together, we look forward to exploring all strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”

As Vince McMahon stated yesterday, “WWE has an exceptional management team in place, and I do not intend for my return to have any impact on their roles, duties, or responsibilities."

In connection with the change in the composition of the Board of Directors and in cooperation with Vince McMahon as majority shareholder, the Company intends to undertake a review of its strategic alternatives with the goal being to maximize value for all WWE shareholders. There is no assurance that this process will result in a transaction.

Vince McMahon, in his capacity as controlling shareholder of the Company, has removed JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed and Alan M. Wexler from the Board. Vince McMahon, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have been added to the Board to fill the resulting vacancies.

The Board currently consists of:

Vince McMahon

Stephanie McMahon

Nick Khan

Paul Levesque

Steve Koonin

Michelle McKenna

Steve Pamon

George Barrios

Michelle Wilson

Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh have resigned from the Board, effective today.

January 5, 2023

Vince McMahon Trying To Get Back Into WWE For Media RIghts Negotiations

According to Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street Journal, Vince McMahon is planning to return to WWE in order to pursue a sale of the business. McMahon has reportedly told the company that he is electing himself and former co-presidents and directors, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board.

This move will require three current directors to vacate their positions.

Previous attempts for McMahon to be reinstated have been rebuffed by the board and he will need board approval if he assumes the role as executive chairman, which he reportedly expects to do.

McMahon still has majority voting power due to his ownership of WWE Class B stock.

The report goes on to state the board responded last month in a letter to Mr. McMahon that it was prepared to initiate a review process and would welcome working with him on it. It was reportedly unanimously agreed that Mr. McMahon’s return to the business wouldn’t be in shareholders’ best interest.

McMahon has reportedly communicated to the board that unless he has direct involvement as executive chairman from the outset of a strategic review, he won’t support or approve any media-rights deal or sale.

WWE media rights for WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown are reportedly set to be negotiated in the near future as the contracts for both shows end in 2024.

Vince McMahon sent out the following press release:

GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vince McMahon, the founder and controlling shareholder of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. ("WWE" or the "Company") (NYSE: WWE), announced today that he has taken necessary actions to position the Company to capitalize on a unique opportunity to maximize long-term value for all WWE shareholders. The actions, communicated to WWE's Board of Directors today via written consent, include the election to the Board of Mr. McMahon, as well as Michelle Wilson and George Barrios – former WWE Co-Presidents and Board members, and currently the Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Isos Capital Management – and the requisite removal from the Board of three directors. Mr. McMahon expects to assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Board.

Mr. McMahon's new role will enable unified decision making through the Company's upcoming media rights negotiations and a parallel full review of the Company's strategic alternatives, which Mr. McMahon believes is the right course of action and in the best interests of WWE and WWE shareholders amidst the current dynamics in the media and entertainment industry. As Mr. McMahon has communicated to the Board, he believes there is a narrow window of opportunity to create significant value for all shareholders and that to do so, the strategic alternatives review must occur in tandem with the media rights negotiations. He also expressed to the Board that he believes these two initiatives require Mr. McMahon's direct participation, leadership, and support as controlling shareholder.

"WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms," said Mr. McMahon. "The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives. My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder."

Prior to delivering written consent, Mr. McMahon sent two separate letters to the Board in late December in which he expressed the urgency of his return to the Company as Executive Chairman and his desire to work collaboratively with the Board and management team. Following conversations with representatives of the Company both before and after Mr. McMahon's most recent letter on December 31, Mr. McMahon determined, consistent with his rights as controlling shareholder, that the steps announced today are necessary to maximize value for all WWE shareholders.

In conjunction with the changes to WWE's Board, Mr. McMahon's written consent also includes certain amendments to the Company's bylaws to ensure that WWE's corporate governance continues to properly enable and support shareholder rights. These changes will be detailed in a Schedule 13D amendment to be filed by Mr. McMahon and a Form 8-K to be filed by the Company in the coming days.

bylaws to ensure that WWE's corporate governance continues to properly enable and support shareholder rights. These changes will be detailed in a Schedule 13D amendment to be filed by Mr. McMahon and a Form 8-K to be filed by the Company in the coming days.

No assurances can be given regarding the outcome or timing of the review process. Mr. McMahon does not intend to comment further until the process has concluded or Mr. McMahon has otherwise determined that further disclosure is appropriate or required.

McMahon has stated that he remains willing to continue working to complete any reimbursement for reasonable expenses related to the investigation, to the extent they aren’t covered by insurance.

McMahon reportedly also declined the offer to not return to the company.

Source: fightful.com

December 20, 2022

Vince McMahon’s Planned WWE Comeback Is Predictable But Not Feasible

December 6, 2022

Axios Highlights WWE Business Success Following Vince McMahon's Exit

For most companies, the departure of a CEO would usually result in a wave of uncertainty from investors, and can often even result in the stock price tanking. However, that simply hasn't been the case for WWE in 2022. The company has performed exceedingly well in the aftermath of longtime CEO Vince McMahon's departure over the summer, and news website Axios has now declared WWE "2022's media winner."

Nearly every major publicly traded entertainment company has seen its stock plummet this year, except World Wrestling Entertainment.

The company now has a market capitalization of nearly $6 billion, up from a little under $4 billion when it signed a landmark five-year streaming distribution deal with Peacock in 2021.

Why it matters: Investors are bullish on WWE as an acquisition target, especially in light of a hush money scandal that led to the retirement of the company's longtime leader and controlling shareholder Vince McMahon in July.

Details: WWE, along with other independent sports entertainment companies, could be hot targets for streaming companies looking to bolster subscriber numbers and global followings.

While WWE's exclusive U.S. streaming rights deal with Peacock doesn't expire until 2026, its two biggest live TV deals with Fox and Comcast are set to lapse in 2024.

Between the lines: Earlier this month, WWE ended its monthslong investigation into alleged misconduct by McMahon, concluding that he made nearly $20 million of previously undisclosed payments, most of which went toward settling sexual misconduct claims.

But the company has had a relatively smooth leadership transition in the wake of the scandal, keeping investors optimistic about its long-term growth strategy.
The return of live events following COVID-era lockdowns this year has been a boon for WWE.

The bottom line: Much of WWE's revenue is tied to long-term media contracts and big events, which has helped the company dodge much of the advertising-driven headwinds plaguing other media firms.

December 2, 2022

Stephanie McMahon Discusses Triple H’s Creative Vision For The White Rabbit Project

During the Wells Fargo 2022 TMT Summit (via Fightful), Stephanie McMahon spoke about the success of the White Rabbit Project in WWE and Triple H’s creative vision for it. The project caused TV viewership and live event attendance to go up and eventually led to the return of Bray Wyatt.

She said: “In terms of in-ring content, under Paul Levesque, it’s one of the key strengths that he was one of the biggest performers in the history of our business. He understands what it takes to be a successful superstar, one of the most successful. He understands audience connection and how to create content in a way I don’t think many do. When you think about the changes he’s made, the talent he’s brought back, not only bringing back stars, but how he’s doing it. For example, we were bringing back one of our biggest stars, Bray Wyatt, whose character is a bit of a cult-type leader. We used a multi-media approach and hired a horror writer to help us craft this narrative so fans were engaged. We started doing QR codes randomly in the background. It’s what we called the White Rabbit Project. There were interactive games, there were different misleads. We had one puzzle that was coordinated to a record store in Corbin, Kentucky that was White Rabbit Records. It happened to be that the people at the store played along. Our fans would call and ask, ‘What’s going on? Is someone returning? What’s happening at WWE?’ They would use some of the language we were using in the campaign and then hang up the phone. One of the codes drove us to a date, and that date happened to be the SmackDown that was happening. It looked like it could be a date or a time code, September 23 or 9:23. At 9:23, we saw viewership increase 20% over that time period. It’s strategies like that, that work because the audience is different and they’re growing and evolving. Some people want to have a lean-back experience, and that’s great, but a lot of people want to engage deeply and have fun and have misleads and misdirections. The worst thing in the world is when things are predictable from a content perspective. We want to make them unpredictable.“

December 1, 2022

WWE Plans To Bring Stadium Show To Major International Market

WWE's global expansion is set to make another big splash. In the company's presentation at this week's Wells Fargo TMT Summit in Las Vegas, WWE Chairwoman Stephanie McMahon talked about WWE's top priorities heading into 2023 and revealed its recent streaming deal in Australia is expected to lead to a major stadium event there.

While speaking about the company's plans to continue pushing its global expansion, McMahon noted that WWE's deal with Australia's Foxtel Group includes plans to host a major live event in the country. "We need to bring a stadium event to Australia as well," she said.

WWE signed its deal with Foxtel Group in September. The deal will see the WWE Network get folded into local streaming giant Binge much like how the service has been integrated into Peacock in the U.S., according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

"International is a focus for us," McMahon said this week. "We have discussed in the past, but now we really have the opportunity to create what we call global localization — or 'glocal' — where we can create local performance centers with local talent and replicate the lines of business that we have here in WWE, but do it on a much smaller scale and hopefully that will ladder up into the bigger product and eventually creating a World Cup-type product that would be very fun and exciting."

McMahon added that expanding globally "also .. is an opportunity for talent to rotate throughout and we can have local stars that ultimately come up to the main roster of WWE."

This year, WWE held its Clash at the Castle event in Cardiff in September and continued its annual Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia last month.

November 2, 2022

WWE’s Vince McMahon Investigation Ended Up Costing $19.4M In Expenses

The WWE, led by co-CEOs Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, handily beat Wall Street expectations on revenue in its third quarter, delivering net revenue of $304.6 million, and operating income of $58.9 million.

The bump in revenue was “primarily due an increase in both domestic and international media rights fees related to the Company’s flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown,” the company said.

Indeed, the majority of the revenue, some $233 million, came from media rights, with live events accounting for $35.2 million, and consumer products $36.4 million.

But while many entertainment companies are beginning to lower expectations for the rest of the year amid an uncertain economic environment, the WWE appears bullish on its prospects, telling investors that it now expects full year 2022 Adjusted OIBDA to be at the “upper end” of its $370 million – $385 million range from just a few months ago, including fourth quarter 2022 Adjusted OIBDA of $83 million – $90 million.

In its earnings report, the WWE also provided an update into the board investigation into former CEO Vince McMahon. McMahon retired amid the probe back in July, but he remains the company’s controlling shareholder.

“The Special Committee investigation is now complete and the Special Committee has been disbanded,” the company said in the earnings report. “Management is working with the Board to implement the recommendations of the Special Committee related to the investigation.”

The company says it spent $17.7 million on costs associated with the investigation in Q3, and $19.4M so far this year. 

September 24, 2022

Happy Birthday Stephanie





Stephanie McMahon Levesque
September 24, 1976

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Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear