WWE Could Make Huge Changes To Events If Company Is Sold
WWE could look to make major changes to its premium live events that would impact its streaming deals if the company is sold according to a new report.
Rumours have been running rampant that WWE could be sold following the return of Vince McMahon to the company as the Executive Chairman.
Debunked reports suggested the company was on the verge of being sold to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, but that remains “in the hunt” along with several other candidates to buy WWE outright – including sensationally AEW owner Tony Khan and his father Shahid Khan.
With the prevailing expectation being that WWE will be sold sooner rather than later, Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio has suggested a big overhaul could come to the WWE Network and Peacock, particularly if the company is taken over by UFC’s owner Endeavor, who are very much in the pay-per-view business:
“If it’s Endeavor, because of UFC, I believe that they would absolutely look into the possibility of it [taking WWE events off streaming services and making them solely pay-per-view]. Because look at what they do with UFC and they’re similar businesses.”
“I don’t believe it will be done. Now what could be done, the idea of pulling WrestleMania, or maybe WrestleMania, Royal Rumble (and) SummerSlam, and making them pay-per-views but keeping the other ones on the Network. I could see that.”
“I think that’s probably even the best way to do it, or maybe you even go with WrestleMania alone and that’s the only one. Because you’ve got two days of WrestleMania, maybe charge $40 a day, people will pay it because it’s WrestleMania.”
“The flip side, the thing is though, is you can’t do it until this contract is over. So I think that the thing is when this Peacock contract is over, and you’re evaluating all this, you have to look at what is Peacock paying you. Because the amount that Peacock pays, it’s not like they’re paying a certain amount every month. It’s weighed, so they get paid way more for WrestleMania month than any other month.”
“So are they getting paid more than they would make on the pay-per-view? I don’t know the answer to that. But I would say that in Endeavor is to buy, I would say that absolutely Endeavor would look at the economics and consider it, and they will go with whatever is the best economic idea.”
“You’ve got to remember this is not WWE Network, this is a figure way, way, way above WWE Network. If it was just WWE Network, I would go ahead and say WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, you put on pay-per-view, and the other ones you don’t, because you’re in charge of that.”
“This is something that’s been sold to Peacock on the idea that they’re getting WrestleMania on their streaming service. So you can’t go away from it. And also they’re getting so much money from Peacock, way more than they would make on pay-per-view or on WWE Network that the economics may very well be that it’s not worth it to them to take WrestleMania back to pay-per-view.”
Meltzer also suggested that there is now a “feeling” within WWE that Vince McMahon will appear back on television at some point.