If Vince McMahon’s return to World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. was still in doubt, it isn’t any longer, after the company’s biggest weekend in years.
The imminent sale of WWE
WWE,
to Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.
EDR,
which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will result in McMahon — who retired last year amid a misconduct probe — being named executive chair of the new public company. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel will serve as chief executive.
“He’s managed an incremental return to the company and overcome scandal that in many other businesses he wouldn’t have been able to return from,” Brandon Thurston, a writer for Wrestlenomics, told MarketWatch. “Both Vince and Dana White have been examples in the last several months of how there are different rules for people in power in terms of their ability to avoid consequences and continue to benefit from their companies.” (White, the president of the UFC, was caught on camera slapping his wife on New Year’s Eve.)
When McMahon, the majority owner and former CEO of WWE, returned in January to pursue a sale of the wrestling empire he built over the past several decades, it was initially viewed as a temporary return to shepherd the sale. McMahon abruptly stepped down last year following a series of Wall Street Journal reports that revealed he had paid women more than $12 million from 2005 to 2022 to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct.
But within days of McMahon’s return in January, WWE’s board of directors unanimously elected him executive chair. His involvement appeared to ratchet up in recent weeks in the run-up to Wrestlemania 39, the company’s annual event, in Los Angeles this past weekend.
According to Thurston, McMahon was reportedly working backstage at Wrestlemania both Saturday and Sunday, giving directions. “It’s been a gradual reassertion getting nearer to his previous roles,” Thurston said. “He just told CNBC he would only have a ‘high-level’ involvement in creative and wouldn’t be ‘getting in the weeds,’ but he’s said similar [things] in the past, like in 2019, after which he continued to lead creative.”
McMahon’s son, Shane, even appeared after a long hiatus from Wrestlemania, but promptly injured his ankle.
Endeavor’s potential deal with WWE comes following two sellout shows at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, a surge in TV ratings and house attendance and a spike in the sports-entertainment company’s bottom line.
WWE recorded its first year of more than $1 billion in sales in 2021, and its shares have rallied about 26% year to date, lifting its market capitalization to $6.8 billion. Endeavor shares are flat so far this year, leaving its market value at $16.8 billion.
WWE’s deals with Fox Corp.’s Fox Broadcasting network and NBCUniversal’s USA Network cable channel are due to expire next year.
WWE’s stock is down 5% in early afternoon trading Monday, while Endeavor shares have dropped nearly 7%.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
