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WWE INTERESTED IN MASSIVE HIP HOP STAR JOINING BAD BUNNY ON THEIR PROGRAMMING & MORE

WWE President Nick Khan spoke with Forbes for a piece that was published today, breaking down how the company is seeking to court younger viewers and how the current pandemic set the stage for reggaeton star Bad Bunny to get involved with the company while also comfiring the company's interest in getting hip hop star Cardi B involved after she recenty tweeted about WWE during Raw Legends Night:

“Yes, and specifically the two that you just mentioned.  Obviously, there is no touring right now, so the ability to get Bad Bunny for however long this run is going to be—and you’re going to see a lot of him—I don’t believe that would have existed in a world where Bad Bunny was on tour. That’s going to be a continual effort, so we’re always going to watch Bad Bunny, Cardi B to get involved.”

“It made it a touch easier to get a deal done this time because they weren’t—over the course of however long the deal is—is not in 25 different cities during that time. The bulk of concert money is made in the summertime. It doesn’t appear as if there are going to be big tours during the summer, even we’re all hopeful, so we’ll see what other folks we’re talking to and who you’ll see in the mix.”

Khan also dove deeper into his comments during recent earning calls where he discussed that WWE hasn't lost viewers as much as they have shifted to watching via other platforms:

“In all my time in LA, since SmackDown started in October 2019 through when I moved to Connecticut, I watched every episode of SmackDown live on the app.  So my viewership, your viewership are not counted in the ratings. So it’s not simply ‘hey, there is a departure, people are watching on YouTube, Facebook, etc.’ People are watching the direct-to-consumer product, which only FOX knows how many folks are actually watching that. FOX seems quite pleased to us with the overall viewership, and that’s the nuance in what I was attempting to say."

During the conversation, Khan noted they are re-evaluating the company's gaming strategy and are seeking to develop animated programming that appeals to 2-6 year olds as a way to indoctrinate younger fans into WWE.

"That’s a lifelong, career-long desire. No matter when people start watching, they’re always going to obviously get older, so you always have to figure out a new way to get young people in....So what we’re in the middle of—the bad Bunny thing ... that’s obviously tailored towards a young audience. We’re in the process now of developing a number of different animated properties, some with the desired demographic of 2 to 6 years old, so the thought is to get kids in young. We’re also reevaluating our entire gaming strategy.  So I’m not convinced that there are a group of 15-year-olds watching linear television who just don’t happen to be watching us. They’re finding our content elsewhere, and we have to get to them before they’re even 15, to make sure we have a chance to win over new fans so when the other fans start to phase out and get older, we always have a new population coming in.”

Khan also commented on the online narrative that the company has put themselves into the position where there is no incentive to improve the product now that they have the current TV deals and the WWE Network having been licensed to Peacock for the next five years:

“I think once you’ve been really, really hungry in life and in business, it’s tough to be really, really full.  So I’ve found with Vince, who I've had the good fortune of knowing for a number of years as an agent when I was with CAA and now working with him directly, that hunger is still there, and I think that hunger is pervasive throughout the company. It’s sort of the culture of the company that we always have to work harder than we worked before."

Khan also stated the company celebration of the Peacock deal was "maybe" an hour long before they got back to work and stated there have been no conversations with NBCU about potentially purchasing WWE.

 

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