WWE Issues Statement On The Coronavirus And WrestleMania 36 Week

WWE is moving forward with WrestleMania 36 plans despite multiple confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Tampa, Florida area.

WWE issued a statement to ESPN this afternoon and said they are monitoring the coronavirus situation closely with partners and government officials in the Tampa Bay area. WWE confirmed that there are no current plans to cancel or postpone any upcoming events due to the virus.

WWE Held Talent Meeting Over Coronavirus Concerns At RAW

According to PWInsider.com, WWE held a talent meeting before RAW last night regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. It was noted that the company wanted to review the latest information on the disease and what talents could do to avoid contracting the disease on the road.

Two cases of the virus have been discovered this week in the Tampa area, where WrestleMania 36 is scheduled to take place next month. WWE has not publicly commented on the potential effect the coronavirus could have on their schedule since the cases in Florida were discovered.

Last week, Stephanie McMahon and other WWE officials were in Tampa for a business luncheon and spoke with the Tampa Bay Times about growing concerns over the disease. McMahon said WWE puts the safety of their performers and fans first but they’ll act if it comes to that point. “The health and safety of not only our fan base, but also our superstars, really does come first. We don’t want to put anyone in a bad situation ever, regardless of the circumstance. Those are not risks worth taking.” McMahon added that the company will “enact those measures” if necessary.

WWE Special Events EVP John Saboor and Tampa Bay Sports Commission’s Rob Higgins were also quoted, with Saboor noting that the company is constantly monitoring global events. “There are active and ongoing discussions at play internally, like there are in any sector of American business,” Saboor noted, “and certainly families as a whole. So I think those will continue.”

Record Number Of Fans Switch To WWE NXT After AEW Dynamite For Charlotte Flair Vs. Bianca Belair End

A large number of fans made the switch after AEW Dynamite on TNT to WWE NXT on the USA Network to catch the end of the Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair main event last Wednesday night.  

The closing segment of the Revolution go-home edition of Dynamite, which was the Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho weigh-ins, drew higher than the Flair vs. Belair match, but more than 227,000 viewers switched from TNT to the USA Network after Dynamitewent off the air, to catch the end of Flair vs. Belair in the overrun, according to Wrestling Observer Radio.

This was the largest switch from TNT to the USA Network since the Wednesday Night War began.

While more than 227,000 fans tuned in forthe final 5 minutes of Flair vs. Belair in the NXT overrun, there was reportedly a "giant switch" back to TNT for the AEW "Countdown to Revolution" special when Miz & Mrs. came on the USA Network.

Dynamite ended up drawing 865,000 viewers on TNT, topping the 717,000 viewers garnered by NXT on the USA Network by 21%. You can click here for last week's Dynamite vs. NXT viewership report, and you can click here for the report on the Countdown vs. Miz & Mrs. viewership.

WWE Suspends Samoa Joe For Wellness Policy Violation

From WWE.com:

WWE has suspended Nuufolau Seanoa (Samoa Joe) for 30 days effective Monday, February 24, for his first violation of the company's talent wellness policy.

XFL TV Ratings Drop Double-Digits In Week 3 While Attendance Continues To Rise

In terms of television ratings, the four weekend games were down 21.8% from the previous weekend, and down 48% from week 1. The four games averaged 1.61 million viewers, compared to 2.06 million viewers the week before.

The drop in viewers is not as drastic as the first incarnation of the league, which saw ratings drop 67% from week 1 to week 3. FOX recently told Yahoo Finance that they see 2 million viewers "as satisfactory" for XFL games. This past Sunday's game on FOX averaged 2.051 million viewers, so it was right at the threshold.

Attendance was up for the third straight week, as the week 3 games posted overall attendance of 81,942, up 9.3% from the 76,285 fans the games drew in week 2. The weekend saw the league garner both its largest attendance with 29,554 fans in St. Louis, as well as its least-attended game with only 12,211 fans in Los Angeles.

WWE Reportedly Negotiating With ESPN For Content Streaming On ESPN+

WWE is reportedly having talks with ESPN.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the talks would be in regards to WWE content airing on the ESPN+ service. The deal that WWE is likely trying to broker would be similar to the deal UFC has with ESPN, where WWE would sell their rights to air pay-per-views, which would pay more money for the content than WWE could make on its own by selling the content directly to viewers with the WWE Network. The ESPN+ model with UFC is reportedly what opened WWE's eyes to the idea.

The ESPN+ deal could potentially bring more mainstream exposure to WWE's big events and their biggest Superstars. ESPN has proved that when they own rights to a product, they use their various shows to heavily market that product. There's no word yet on how far the talks with ESPN are, but The Observer noted that it looks like the deal has not been agreed on as of this week.

As noted earlier this month at this link, there was no truth to the rumors on WWE possibly talking to Amazon about selling content rights to them. While Amazon might not be interested in WWE, the company has been talking with other potential partners, which would include DAZN, and NBC's Peacock service. ESPN+ was also included in the original report on potential content partners.

The belief was that NBC's Peacock service, which is set to launch later this year, would be the best bet for WWE. TV industry sources recently reported to The Observer that Peacock would look at WWE to be its key initial programming to draw subscribers from the launch moving forward, which would be very similar to how ESPN+ did with UFC. With such a deal with one of these larger streaming services, WWE would be able to get significantly guaranteed money for their big money events, instead of being forced to rely on declining subscription money from the WWE Network.

How WWE started a sports tradition: 'Everything about it says you’re a champion'

If you were one of the roughly 102 million people who watched Super Bowl LIV earlier this month, it would have been hard to ignore WWE’s fingerprints on the biggest event in sports.

Sure, one explanation would be that Fox — which broadcast the game — recently signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Vince McMahon’s company, but the influence goes deeper than simple corporate synergy. Although commercials and promotional spots for “Smackdown” were present throughout the NFL season, the biggest example of the crossover came when former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did the Super Bowl LIV pre-game introductions for both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

While no one would question handing this task to one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Johnson essentially going back two decades and cutting a vintage “Rock” promo for the two teams illustrates how much WWE has infiltrated professional sports. Just ask George Kittle, arguably San Francisco’s best and most recognizable player. His love for professional wrestling manifests itself on and off the field, earning him the nickname “The People’s Tight End.”

The rise in popularity didn’t happen overnight, but as WWE became more popular among a newer generation of athletes, the company leaned into it and began what has become one of the signature moments in sports.

“When you meet athletes over the years, they would see the championship belt and ask if they could hold it and ask if it was the actual title,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s executive vice president of talent, live events and creative, told Yahoo Sports. “You’d see these reactions and these moments and you had these opportunities. The WWE title started to symbolize being this over-the-top champion. It’s a little hard with a trophy, but with a title belt I can hold it up in the air, I can wear it around my waist, I can parade around with it. Everything about it says you’re a champion when you have one.”

The birth of a championship tradition

A 14-time heavyweight champion with WWE, Levesque described how the company reached the point where their championships have become like a second trophy for sports teams across the globe. It’s not the Lombardi Trophy or the Stanley Cup, but the WWE championship belt has become one of the most visible parts of celebrations in recent years.

What began as a simple, quiet gesture quickly evolved into a cultural phenomenon.

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First XFL Game Pulls In 3.3 million Viewers On ABC

ABC network has announced that the XFL opener between the Seattle Dragons and the D.C. Defenders scored an average of 3.3 million viewers.

Last year, the Alliance of American Football drew 2.9 million viewers for its first game. The AAF never reached anything remotely close to that again and shut down before completing its first season.

It is also interesting to note the rating beat WWE Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

WWE Considering Selling Pay-Per-View Rights to ‘Major’ Streaming Service

WWE is in talks to sell some of its video content—including pay-per-view broadcasts—to “major” streaming services, company chairman Vince McMahon said on Thursday’s earnings call.

Currently, the WWE Network streaming service (which costs $9.99 per month) is home to all of the company’s pay-per-view events, as well as documentaries, series and a vast library of archival footage from WWE and other wrestling companies that have since been purchased by McMahon’s behemoth.

WWE has been in the process of expanding the streaming network to include tiers of access at different price points (ranging from free to $14.99 per month). The tiered Network offerings were supposed to launch in January but were put on hold.

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AEW Dynamite Scores Big Over WWE NXT In Viewership

Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT scored 928,000 viewers against NXT on USA Network's 770,000 viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.

Dynamite was highlighted by 10 lashes to the back of Cody Rhodes by MJF whilst NXT featured the return of Charlotte Flair and Velveteen Dream.

AEW ranked #11 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #34. AEW ranked #31 in viewership, while NXT ranked #35 in viewership.

In terms of key demos, AEW drew a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demo while NXT drew a 0.22 in the same demo. AEW was up in all demos apart from the over 50s.

Despite Costs Of Launching WWE SmackDown, Fox Corp.’s Revenue Up 5% To End 2019

Fox has released its earnings for the 2019 year on Wednesday, and according to a report from Variety, despite the company having much higher sports rights fees thanks to the cost of launching Friday Night SmackDown, the company still saw a rise in revenue.

According to the company, Fox Corp. saw a 5% rise in revenue, with $3.78 billion coming in for the quarter that ended on December 31. Net income for Fox Corp. improved to $314 million, compared to just $24 million in the same quarter a year ago. However, higher costs for Fox Sports’ NFL rights, combined with the SmackDown launch and the absence of UFC fights did hit Fox.

“Our results reaffirm that Fox Corporation is delivering on the operational and financial objectives that we established less than twelve months ago,” Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said. “Our brands are exhibiting strength in a competitive marketplace and delivering healthy top-line growth as we continue to invest strategically to expand the reach of our portfolio and further diversify our revenue streams. Meanwhile, we are taking a balanced approach to capital allocation, including the return of $500 million to shareholders in the form of share repurchases since our last earnings release. Coming off an incredibly successful Super Bowl LIV and with the buildup to the November Presidential Election ahead of us, we look forward to continuing our momentum through calendar 2020.”

WWE stock gets body slammed by executive shakeup

New York (CNN Business)The news just keeps getting worse for World Wrestling Entertainment, and WWE investors must feel like they've been choke slammed and dragged to hell by Universal Champion Bray "The Fiend" Wyatt.

Shares of WWE (WWE) plummeted more than 20% Friday after the company announced that its co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were unexpectedly leaving the WWE. The company did not explain the reason for their abrupt departures.

Longtime WWE board member Frank Riddick will become the company's interim chief financial officer. WWE said that it is now looking for a permanent CFO as well as a new chief revenue officer.
Making matters worse, WWE also announced that its operating profit for 2019 would be lower than expected.

"We have a deep team of talented, experienced and committed executives across the organization, and the Board and I have great confidence in our collective abilities to create compelling content, engage our global fanbase across platforms, increase revenues, and drive shareholder value," said WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in a statement.

But WWE has been struggling for the past few months. Shares are down more than 40% in the past year.

The sports entertainment company -- as WWE refers to itself -- reported quarterly sales in October that missed forecasts and lowered its profit outlook. The company attributed the weaker forecast to its inability to sign a new TV deal in the Middle East.
Even though the WWE has new domestic TV deals with Comcast (CMCSA)-owned NBCUniversal's cable networks and Fox (FOX), there are worries that fans are losing interest.

"Television ratings have crumbled, while engagement metrics across the company's other business units have followed linear TV ratings down. Fans have continuously complained about the quality of the company's content," said LightShed Partners analyst Brandon Ross in a report Friday.

Fans aren't the only ones getting antsy. Analysts at Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI and Loop Capital on Friday all lowered their price targets and ratings on WWE in light of the WWE shakeup.

WrestleMania, the company's signature live event, is just two months away. McMahon needs to figure out a plan to get fans excited again or the stock price may remain pinned to the mat. The clock is ticking.

"Content needs to improve at WWE if the company is going to be investable," Ross said in his report. " And no matter who comes in to take the place of the former presidents, the burden of improving the content sits squarely on Vince, who has held tight control over the creative at WWE for decades."