After soaring over 9% yesterday, WWE stock is up another 2.39% today. Investors obviously see a major windfall with the company's television rights fees for RAW and SmackDown coming up early next year.
- Chris Bevilacqua referred to WWE as "a hidden gem" on Forbes SportsMoney earlier today, and said that the television landscape was completely different from the last time that WWE negotiated their rights fees with companies now paying huge sums for sports content. Bevilacqua noted that the company has a very loyal audience with a strong social media following.
In terms of "gross ratings points," Bevilacqua noted that WWE is triple the size of NASCAR, which recently inked a deal with NBC worth $4.5 billion over ten years. It was noted that the only sports property larger than WWE - in terms of viewership - is the NFL. Bevilacqua feels that WWE could be getting 4-6 times their current $140 million / year in rights fees. Fox Sports 1, Netflix and Google were named potential bidders for WWE's next deal, although it was noted that Netflix and Google weren't likely.
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November 1, 2013
WWE Called 'A Hidden Gem' On Financial Show
Janice Carter Issues Internal Memo In Regards To Reports Of TNA Being Up For Sale
Janice Carter reportedly issued an internal memo to TNA employees in regards to online reports that the company was looking for a new owner.
In the memo, which praised their new 24/7 initiative, Carter told the staff that any rumors of Panda Energy "attempting to sell its ownership stake" in TNA is false and that she remains committed to the company.
Chris Jericho admits to drunk-tweeting his reply to Triple H's Raw dig, offers new response
Part-time WWE star Chris Jericho admitted to drunk-tweeting when he responded to Triple H's storyline-driven dig at Edge, Rob Van Dam, and Jericho on Raw TV last month.
"The funny thing was had I not been drinking Grey Goose vodka and not been completely loaded when I heard about it, I wouldn’t had bothered twitting about it but I was like: 'Screw him, I’m going to tweet back,'" Jericho said on the Busted Open satellite radio show promoting his band "Fozzy."
Jericho's October tweet responding to Hunter labeling the trio as capable stars but not "The Guy" in WWE read: "Thing is @tripleh despite ur major push, u never were either. Good luck in ur future endeavours." Jericho added: "Time to move on guys. Bye bye @wwe! Now time for more important things...any doubt that #DayInTheLife is the best @thebeatles song ever?"
The next night, Jericho downplayed his reaction to Triple H's dig, tweeting: "No big deal. Always nice to be mentioned on Raw."
Jericho also expanded on his thoughts about Hunter's comment during the Busted Open interview.
"That’s Triple H being Triple H. It’s just the way he is and whether he believes it or not, it’s part of the show. I don’t feel that way and I never did feel that way. It’s funny throughout our careers, Triple H and I were almost at the same level. We were always the guy that worked with 'the guy.' Triple H is a huge star, one of the greatest of all time but also never really 'the guy.' Who really has been 'the guy' over the last ten years? I can think of three. Rock, Stone Cold, and John Cena. There you go."
October 31, 2013
Rumor Mill - WWE Targeting A Former TNA Name About A Return To The Company
The shakeups continue in WWE developmental. As we’ve seen over the last month, Joey Mercury was transferred as an NXT trainer to a main roster producer. This cleared the way for the hiring of Nick Dinsmore to replace him at the WWE Performance Center. The next guy in line for a transfer is Billy Gunn. Gunn is expected to join the main roster as a producer, which operates as a segue into our most interesting piece of information.
WWE has been in talks with Devon Dudley about possibly coming in as a developmental trainer. Devon has experience as a trainer as he a co-owner of the Team 3D Academy, which is also located in Florida. While many in WWE have said the Dudley Boyz would never be welcome back in WWE, it’s really Bully Ray that has the heat. Devon is seen as someone that is generally well-liked.
Triple H has said before he’d never bring the Dudley Boyz back because of his dislike for Bully Ray but he’s not opposed to Devon returning on his own as a trainer. Devon has told friends he doesn’t have interest in returning to TNA and he’s believed to be interested in WWE’s offer.
Rumor Mill - Backstage Talk About Roman Reigns, The Shield, Wyatt Family
Look for Roman Reigns of The Shield to eventually turn into a major babyface, but probably not for several months down the line. No word yet on what this will mean for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
There is talk that with The Shield possibly dissolving soon, The Wyatt Family will take their spot as the dominant heel stable. Look for The Wyatts to have a major feud against CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
Jack Swagger On How Zeb Colter Became His Manager
WWE Superstar Jack Swagger recently spoke to Music Recall Magazine:
MRM: How did Zeb Colter become your manager?
Swagger: It’s a cool story. We were a couple weeks out from the Elimination Chamber in 2013. And we were in Nashville for a Raw TV taping, and Zeb lives in Nashville, and we knew we wanted another character to go along with the storyline. Triple H had an idea to bring him in, and he came in. He started discussing some ideas, and he did a couple promos on tape and Vince and Hunter just loved it. It was very meant to be. He already had the mustache and fit the character to a T.
Wall Street Loves WWE
The WWE stock had a great day closing at $12.95. It was up $1.11 and 9.37%, closing at its 52 week high on a day when the market was down. It went as high as $13.14 during the day. Obviously, Wall Street reacted well to the company's earnings, and more importantly believes it will get a significant raise in revenue when it gets its next TV deals.
Vince McMahon conference call coverage: WWE Network, SummerSlam disappoints, television rights negotiations, third quarter financial report
Vince McMahon and members of senior management hosted a conference call pertaining to the 2013 third quarter report that was released on October 31, 2013. The following are the highlights of the call.
-The call was hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE CFO George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.
-Vince said the increased television rights fees offset the "disappointing" SummerSlam numbers and video game sales. Regarding SummerSlam, Vince said fans "didn't buy the attraction, as most of you know these events are attraction driven."
-Vince said they are looking for "traditional and non-traditional distribution" for the WWE Network.
-Vince said their largest television contracts are coming up both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. He said India is coming up shortly thereafter.
-Barrios took over the call temporarily and read through the financial presentation. He noted that revenue increased nine percent and said it was largely due to increased licensing fees and to some extent live events.
-Barrios said "Total Divas" has averaged roughly 1.8 million viewers per week. He noted that it performed 150 percent better than the programming it replaced on E! network.
-Revenue from the pay-per-view business was down ten percent "primarily due to the performance of the SummerSlam event." This is despite the fact that WWE added new digital media platforms for their pay-per-view events, such as Playstation 3.
-The movies released under WWE Studios new film model are expected to bring a 13 percent return.
-Barrios said the company is confident that they can double or triple their 2012 results by 2015 via future television agreements and the WWE Network. He said their key domestic television deals are expected to be done by "next April."
-Barrios compared WWE to live sports. He said the similarities make WWE "DVR-proof."
-Barrios also spoke briefly about the potential WWE Network platforms, then opened up the line for calls.
-The first caller noted that the domestic television deals are expected to be finalized by April 2014 and whether they will maintain their current relationships or end up elsewhere. He questioned whether WWE Vince said there is a certain exclusive negotiating window for current partners that ends on the first of the year. He said they can go outside to other potential partners after that. Barrios said the timeline they are offering is typical for television rights negotiations.
-Vince was asked about the pay-per-view numbers. He once again stressed that pay-per-views are attraction driven. He said it was a "swing and a miss" as far as the attraction they went with. He said the declining numbers really don't have to do with anything other than that.
-Vince closed out the conference call by wishing everyone a good say and saying, "The future looks bright."
-It didn't seem like Vince realized he was still on the line, as could be heard saying, "As Daniel Bryan would say..." There was laughter in the room. One of the three men mentioned something about it being "the shortest" and said no one would have saw it coming.
WWE Third Quarter Earnings Up 9%, Beat Estimates
WWE today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2013. Revenues increased $9.1 million or 9%, to $113.3 million from $104.2 million in the prior year quarter driven by a significant increase in rights fees from the licensing of television content. Operating income decreased 36% to $3.2 million as compared to $5.0 million in the prior year quarter as revenue growth was more than offset by increased movie losses due to a $7.0 million impairment charge primarily associated with the Company’s 2010-2012 film release slate, and reduced profits from the Company’s pay-per-view, video game and home entertainment businesses. Net income was $2.4 million, or $0.03 per share, as compared to $3.5 million, or $0.05 per share, in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of film impairments, Adjusted Operating income increased 104% to $10.2 million, Adjusted OIBDA increased 62% to $16.7 million and Adjusted Net income increased 100% to $7.0 million...More?
Triple H's Response When Asked About Matt Morgan
When Matt Morgan's name was brought up to Triple H about being hired, Triple H's response is that they are spending millions of dollars on the new Performance Center so their focus is on developing younger guys on their own to bring in as opposed to experienced older guys. Obviously if it was a bigger name there could be an exception made, but that is WWE's mentality in most cases going forward.
