Vince McMahon recently made headlines after he aggressively reinserted himself on the WWE Board of Directors after firing three directors to make room for himself and two others.
The reason for his return was reported that he wanted to seek a sale of the company and reportedly threatened to veto and media deals the company would make when their contracts run out in 2024 if he wasn’t made Executive President of the board.
Had he been placed in a position to do that, it would’ve crippled the WWE financially since most of their income comes from their media and TV deals. Hence, he was unanimously voted in by the board.
But there could be another reason for him returning to sell the company than the fan speculation of greed, and it could be the simple fact there aren’t enough wrestling fans to justify the cost networks and streaming services pay for the WWE rights.
Fox losing major money
The WWE could take a financial hit in 2024 if they’re unable to secure as lucrative deals as they have with Fox and the NBC streaming service Peacock.
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a Morgan Stanley analysis reportedly claimed the price tag Fox paid for Smackdown can’t be justified given how much they’re losing on the show.
For example, Fox paid a reported $196.7 million for SmackDown in the 2020-2021 TV season, but they ended up losing $134 million in the deal.
Things didn’t get much better for them as the 2021–2022 season cost Fox $208.5 million for the show and they closed out the year with $145 million in losses.
The reason for this was reasoned that there aren’t enough wrestling fans to tune in, and that’s not likely to change any time soon.
It’s an interesting dilemma as Smackdown often wins Friday nights for Fox, which makes WWE an enticing property for other networks.
But it’s a double edged sword as Smackdown often brings in the lowest ad rates of Friday night primetime Tv shows at a reported $47,000 per minute.
This is a far cry from the WWE many of us remember from 20 years ago when they were seeing 5-6 million viewers per episode as fans were tuning in droves.
It’s also a testament to how stale the product has become in recent years as the WWE has shifted away ay from building superstars like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, and John Cena and focused on WWE being the brand to draw fans in.
Add to that the inconsistency in storytelling and having the same matches month after month and the product has suffered. Instead of being cutting edge and breaking into the mainstream, the WWE has become a shadow of itself.
This doesn’t mean it can’t be turned around and make Fox money instead of costing them, but it does go a long way in explaining why McMahon returned to sell the company. Especially if he expects the company not to increase their lucrative media deals.
The WWE may have hit the ceiling and it’s time to move on. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
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