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UPDATES ON SALE TO ENDEAVOR, WWE TV RIGHTS FEES: WWE 2023 SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL COVERAGE

Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of WWE's second quarter earnings conference call coverage.

Seth Zaslov welcomed everyone to the call.

Nick Khan thanked everyone for joining the call.  He touted that the second quarter "exceeded" the high end of their guidance and they are on the way to delivering a record year.

Khan updated the TKO transaction.  They remain excited about UFC and WWE coming together.  They expect the deal to close on the second half.

They are currently in negotiations for the media rights for Raw, Smackdown and WWE NXT.  Khan praised the numbers for their viewership during a time period where the viewership numbers are down across the board.  He noted Raw and Smackdown were up while the key demo across the board for cable were down in double digits.  He described NXT as "surging with younger audiences."

Khan noted that Vince McMahon has taken a medical leave of absence and they will respect his privacy as he recovers from his major spinal surgery.  He will remain in his role as Executive Chairman of the company.

Backlash was the highest grossing and largest viewed Backlash ever.  Night of Champions was the highest viewed event from Saudi Arabia of all time.  Money in the Bank was the highest grossing and seen MITB ever.

He plugged this weekend's Summerslam with 43,000 tickets sold.  They are on track for a sellout.

More than half of the attendees for Wrestlemania 39 were from out of the area and 15% were from international markets.

They are excited to team up with local governments for international events and will have future announcements in the months ahead.

They are averaging 10,000 fans per event in North America currently.

They are seeing fans buying tickets far more in advance now than they've ever traditionally seen.

They set merchandise sales at Wrestlemania, Backlash and MITB.

Khan praised the relationship with Fanatics  and how merch is way up for e-commerce.

Sponsorships  are way up.  For Elimination Chamber it was 200% up.  Wrestlemania set new records.  Backlash and MITB sponsorship were both up.  MITB was the most successful international event for sponsorships ever.

By August, they have already booked their most successful sponsorship year already.

Frank Riddick said they are looking forward to locking in the Endeavor transaction as soon as possible.

He began reviewing the numbers announced in the press release for the quarter.

They opened the Q&A.

Brandon Ross asked why the media rights talks are talking so much longer this time.  Nick Khan said that the numbers are higher this time and that has led to longer aTKOeper conversations.  They are positive about it and expect to get the deals they want.

They were asked about the changes in the marketplace for OTT (streaming) and how they are approaching that aspect of their new deals.  Khan noted that in 2014, WWE were the third to move and launched the WWE Network.  They saw that the marketplace became crowded and shifted to Peacock.  They explored basic TV with FOX, cable with NBCU and explored OTT with Peacock.  OTT buyers seem interested in Raw, Smackdown and NXT.  It was important they did the OTT deal with Peacock.  He said that when all else fails, you look to the NFL and the deals they have made.  

They haven't raised any guidance due to the Endeavor transaction not being locked in yet.

They were asked about whether the NBA right deals have anything to do with WWE's deals not being done yet.  Nick Khan said they didn't think there was a connection.

Nick Khan said the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are unfortunate and they hope there is quick resolution for everyone.

They were asked about Peacock not syncing up time wise with the media rights deals and whether they are open to a one year extension to line everything up to be free at the same time.  Nick said the marketplace isn't suggesting a one year extension.  Digital players see what they drive to Peacock.  They are all talk to all the digital content partners.

On the UK and India, they are positioned well in the UK Khan stated.  He said they are "two years out" when it comes to India but they are excited about the September event and so is Sony. 

On the closing of the TKO deal, they always said the second half of the year, noting that regulatory processes can be lengthy.  They have given all the information to them to seek the approvals they are seeking.  There is no "x" factor involved that the general public isn't aware of.

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