Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who now owns TKO, the parent company of WWE and UFC, recently spoke to Bloomberg where he discussed the reasons for TKO’s stock dropping.
Emanuel stated that there were three main issues which led to TKO’s stock going down, and one of them was the involvement of WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon.
WWE RAW’s media rights are available for sale as the red brand’s current deal with the USA Network is set to expire in October 2024. Emanuel stated that there is a lot of interest in RAW from buyers. He also said that he doesn’t have a problem with the show moving to another night from Monday nights.
Below is what Ari said regarding RAW and Vince McMahon:
“We got a 40% increase for SmackDown. We have RAW, which is the number one package available. There are three big rights coming available to market; WWE RAW, UFC, NBA. We are involved in two of them. There are six buyers. Plus, I would say WWE Network, which is up in 2026.
You cannot undervalue WWE and UFC for the following reasons: One, we do not have a season. One of the biggest issues that will happen with s-mods and network is churn. We’re 52 weeks a year, and we’re flexible. If you want us Thursday night, if you want us Tuesday night, I don’t have any of those schedule issues.
That churn issue, because we’re the full year, is so much different from any other sport because then people churn out. That’s one of the issues with sports. Not in a bad way. (You sign up for the NFL), and then the package is over, and then you leave. Our fans are loyal, they stick around, and they move.
I would say there is plenty of interest with RAW right now. I know people are like, ‘NBC is out of the mix,’ and that’s why [the stock] went down. I think there are three things that happened. One, the reason the stock is down is they thought RAW is the best package. I thought a 40% increase (for SmackDown), which was in line with expectations, was good. Two, the PFL situation, and three, probably Vince (McMahon), in our deal, wanted to be able to put, at any point in time, his stock. He’s 78-years-old and been at this for decades and decades. Those three back-to-back issues….”
WWE recently came to terms on a five-year deal with the USA Network for SmackDown. The show will return to the network in October 2024.
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