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Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of TKO Group Holdings, WWE's parent company's first quarter earnings for 2025.
Seth Zaslow welcomed everyone to the call. Mark Shapiro and TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer will be handling the Q&A portion of the call.
They aired commented from Ari Emanuel. They are raising their guidance for the year due to their Q1 success. He touted the assimilation of On Location and PBR into the for company. He praised the UFC success in London and Australia, then praised their deal to hold major WWE and UFC deals in Perth, Australia. He praised India joining the WWE Netflix family and WWE's success at the live gate for Elimination Chamber, Royal Rumble and more. They had a record-breaking Wrestlemania 41, WWE's most successful event in history. He delivered highlights for PBR, On Location and IMG as well.
Andrew Schleimer said they are off to a great start for 2025. He began breaking down the financial statements that were released today.
Since WWE and UFC license for merchandise, they do not expect the tarriffs to hit them in a major way as they don't produce their own merchandise.
They set records for partners and sponsorships at Mania, where every match was sponsored by an advertiser.
They will updates on their new boxing project with Saudi Arabia when appropriate.
They are now taking questions.
They had no update to discuss on where things are with a new UFC TV/streaming deal. ON UFC they are the owners and the league at the same time. They have to do what's best for their growth as a brand and the best for the product. They will be opportunistic but responsible for the growth of the brand.
They are hoping to do 12 boxing events a year as they plan things out. They are looking to do 1-4 Superfights a year, including the next Canelo fight. They will unveil the name of the promotion soon. Dana White and Nick Khan will help guide them.
They are not planning to buy back any stock currently. They said they are "not in the market yet" for that and if they do, it will be a market-driven decision.
They were asked about site fee deals and the volume they are doing. They were asked how they determine the value are. They do economic surveys and are aggressive in the space. Having the number of offices internationally that they do helps. They try to use all of their assets to capitalize in the space. They are constantly on the lookout for cash. They talked about their deal to bring UFC and WWE to Perth, Australia. They identify the market and use the leverage they have to maximize.
They were asked what was the biggest opportunity for monetizing WWE. Nick Khan jumped in. They praised the acquisition of Lucha Libre AAA. He said if you look at some of the recent additions to the roster - Penta and Fenix - had massive social media impressions. They noticed the Latino audience would be there if someone like them was there when Bad Bunny appeared. He plugged the World Collide and Money In the Bank events on 6/7. The short-term financial impact isn't meaningful but they feel they can take a family operated promotion to increase partnership, TV rights and live event revenue as well as tap into the heritage of the company. There's nothing similar on the horizon.
They were asked if the growth could be sustained once they monetize the UFC and WWE PLEs. They said their management team doesn't sit still. They have ways to go on live ticket revenue for WWE, they are going to launch new brands and new shows. There will be new leagues they unearth such as AAA. New partners for On Location. PBR is niche but Western Lifestyle and they are growing it. More ancillary programing. They painted it as a lot to grow.
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