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THE NETFLIX DEAL, WHAT IF VINCE SELLS MORE STOCK, INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION & MORE: ONGOING TKO 2023 FULL YEAR EARNINGS CALL COVERAGE

Welcome to PWInsider.com's TKO Full Year 2023 Earnings Call coverage.

On the call are Seth Zaslow, Ari Emanuel, Marc Shapiro, and Andrew Schleimer.  No Nick Khan on call introduced officially.

Ari talked up WWE and UFC's success as well as WWE's deal with Netflix.

The demand for WWE's live events were "robust."

Last month's Royal Rumble brought over 48,000 fans to Tropicana Field in Florida.

The Netflix partnership will "greatly expand" WWE's global footprint and will create destination programming for Netflix.

They are optimistic on the TKO outlook after just five months of merging WWE and UFC.  They are highly complimentary businesses.

They pushed the unified Global Partnerships Team for the two entities.

Site fees are a key growth industry for the company, pointing out the fees WWE received from Australia.

They pushed the new deal with the Honda Center in Anaheim.

They have identified how to save the $50-$100 million in savings and will complete those savings over the course of 2024.

They reviewed the media numbers from the earnings.

It was stated TKO is working on acquiring a broadcast home for Raw for the time period between its exit on the USA Network in late 2024 and its debut on Netflix in January 2025.

They are now taking questions.

Ari was asked about bringing WWE globally to Netflix.  He's extremely excited about the relationship and are very pleased with the financial terms.  They think the benefits of the deal are significant and it's a transformative deal, just as UFC's deal with ESPN+ was.  Netflix's global reach is extremely important.  It's a great combination.  They have one deal left to lock in - the PLEs.

They believe Raw will be aired in the fourth quarter, but they don't have anything beyond that.  They are going to get in on the best place for the brand but don't assume any financials for it yet.

They expect to have meaningful cash flow on hand in 2025 and in a meaningful cash position by the end of 2025.

On a shareholder who sold stock (Vince McMahon) and whether they would buy more, they noted the person asking the question he was obviously talking about Vince.  Vince still holds 20 million shares and he will do "what he's going to do."  They have had no communications with him and will find out what he's going to do when everyone else does.  He has given them no indication as to what his plans are for the stock he holds.

On what international markets are not covered by Netflix, Ari said it's a long-term deal and they mitigated a lot of risks in the business.  Some wondered if they would get a Raw deal after the Smackdown deal.  Netflix will have the rights to additional international deals as they become available.  UK was a priority for Netflix as was Latin America.  The idea of WWE Raw on the front page of Netflix is something they are really excited about.

They were asked how the Netflix deal could impact international brand extension.  They noted Nick Khan was on the call.  Khan said the localized global product has been a goal for them and Netflix, he believes, will be a help.  He said to look for more local stars from the international markets and that will be featured as part of the Netflix deal.  The deal doesn't prevent them from creating new content or events on a global basis - Netflix has a first look rights deal, so they would be first in line to purchase that content.

They were asked about the sports rights landscape, they feel strongly about their partnerships currently.  Their assets are going to be important in the future conversations as the new streaming service led by FOX/Disney/WBD moves forward.  They have no comment on the streaming service itself.  They are feeling strong about the strength of the sports rights going forward.  They are blessed by having WWE and UFC premium content an there's a pretty robust marketplace.

They were asked if there were savings from the Netflix deal, theiir international content will be licensed to Netflix.  They will sunset the WWE Network as part of those plans.

On sponsorships, that is among the top three revenue synergies they see going forward for TKO.

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