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Welcome to PWInsider.com's ongoing coverage of TKO Group Holdings, the WWE parent company's earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2024 as well as rhe complete year of 2024.
They opened with Seth Zaslow welcoming everyone to the call.
Ari Emmanuel gave prepared remarks. He said the 4th quarter capped a milestone year for TKO. They delivered "record financial performance" in their first year as a public company. He praised their new media rights deals, including Netflix which puts them in front of 300 million subscribers. They have been consistently in the Netflix top 10. He said they have driven audience growth to Smackdown and NXT in their new broadcast homes. NXT is up 12% from last year's TV average. This was WWE's most successful year with 10 record setting PPV events. WWE set 40 records in the last year for live events.
He noted they hit their goal of saving $100 million with the integration of WWE and UFC.
Ari said a third of WWE and UFC events have brought site fee revenue. He praised the sponsorships UFC did and said WWE has done record setting sponsorship year, noting their in-ring advertising. He said their PLE rights renewals are their "highest priority." The current deal with Peacock ends in March 2026.
Ari touted the Kansas City "Takeover' events. He said they have the right leadership and strategy to execute their goals.
There will be three WWE events in Saudi Arabia in 2026.
They will be bringing multiple WWE and UFC events to Perth, Australia in the next several years as part of their relationship with the Tourism there.
They expect live events and sponsorship revenue to continue their current momentum.
TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer recapped the earnings numbers.
TKO COO Marc Shapiro and Andrew Schleimer will be taking questions.
They are in an exclusive negotiating window with Disney for UFC. It started January 15th and runs 90 days. Their live content - WWE and UFC - creates urgency and drives subscribers. Whatever their deal is, they are focused on what's best for the business long-term. They praised Disney as phenomenal partners. They would like to stay with them as long as they get fair value for their product.
They were asked about the potential of the Ali Act being repealed for boxing. They believe there is an opportunity for boxing and they are chasing it but they aren't going to get involved in the political side of that. As far as their plans for boxing, their core business is WWE and UFC even as they integrate new businesses like On Location and PBR. They intend to be selective and disciplined for other opportunities. Boxing checks all their boxes and they have experts like Nick Khan and Dana White who can drive that business. They won't take risks. There is still strong interest in boxing around the world. Everyone wanted to see Mike Tyson back in the ring and it showed there's an audience for boxing and there's a desire to have it back at the forefront of the American sports ecosystem. They are in talks with the Saudis and close on a deal where TKO would be the producer and promoter and responsible for the day to day. They just sent a delegation to London to meet the Saudi delegation. Nick Khan and others had a full day meeting earlier this week and its close and they'll announce when if and when it's a done deal. They would do four large scale super fights and would be paid a fee to act as a promoter, producer and operator but they aren't taking their eyes off the WWE and UFC ball.
They were asked about their financial forecast and growth. They aren't going to comment on growth but praised how great 2024 went. Live event revenue includes ticket revenue and the site fees. They want to scale things on the WWE side. They are bullish there is room to grow on both aspects of tickets and sites. They said that even if you take out the Netflix Raw episode, they are up greatly from the 2024 average. NXT has done great and CW has seen great uplift from NXT.
They were asked if they've seen a noticeable benefit from the international Netflix numbers. They said it's too early to know but they are very invested in international events. They want to build the audiences and then the dollars will flow. They expect to get into a conversation with Peacock about a renewal during the second half of the year.
They were asked about the sponsorship business going through 2025. The short answer is they've brought $375 million in sponsorship. It's early but they are happy about the sponsorships sold for all three leagues - WWE, UFC, PBR. They have huge opportunities. They aren't going to give long-term guidance but if you look at where the NFL is, they have ways to go.
They were asked how many more opportunities to do similar events like the Kansas City triple-header. They praised Kansas City and said that the potential opportunities are on the premium side. These events aren't PPVs events so if you look at how many premium events they have, they get excited about monetizing them. They have NXT and Fight Nights and multi-layers and years of events to sell.
They declined to comment on Endeavor-related matters.
They said their move to shifting events internationally and with Saudi events, they can drive additional revenue over the course of the year.
Their final question was about the WWE media rights having some timing issues with the filing. They have deals that all land on different times due to the nature of the deals with providers. They still retain income from international partners beyond Netflix rights currently. Those deals will move to Netflix in the years to come.
They were asked about new Netflix programming. Nick Khan popped up and said all they feel from Netflix is an appetite for WWE. They will be doing a behind the scenes show that will come out later in the year and more in the pipeline.
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