WWE and the UFC plan to join as a public company as live entertainment takes center stage
Flyin' over the top rope… World Wrestling Entertainment said it planned to merge with Endeavor, the biz behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship. If approved, the deal would combine two live-entertainment powerhouses — the scripted, high-drama WWE and the raw cage-fightin' fave UFC — into one publicly traded company worth $21B (new ticker: TKO — aka technical knockout). Last year WWE and the UFC pulled the same weight with $1.3B in revenue.
Doin’ it live… The power of real-time entertainment isn't limited to big-league sports. WWE matches have attracted major eyeballs, and networks have bought into their pre-choreographed storylines (no kayfabe required). Fox paid over $200M/year to air WWE's Friday-night "SmackDown" and NBCUniversal reportedly paid $1B for rights to show WWE on Peacock. Streamers have increasingly made a play for the live prize, scripted or otherwise:
- Hoping for overtime: Amazon forks over $1B a year to stream NFL games, Apple TV+ shells out for some MLB games and Major League Soccer matches, and YouTube made a deal with the NFL to stream Sunday games.
- LiveFlix: Last month Netflix broadcast a Chris Rock comedy special live — a first for the streaming leader. And Disney+ streamed a live Elton John concert last year, while Paramount+ showed the Grammys.
People love seeing it first… instead of reading about it later on Twitter. It’s more exciting to watch a big moment in real time — from a championship-winning shot, to a match-ending Tombstone Piledriver, to an awards-show gaffe. WWE and the UFC have long shared talent and viewers, and their combined expertise could be a powerful live-entertainment tag team.