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NICK KHAN STATES WRESTLEMANIA WILL STILL BE IN SAUDI ARABIA NEXT YEAR, SAYS THIS YEAR'S LIVE GATE EXPECTED TO APPROACH LAST YEAR'S

WWE President Nick Khan appeared yesterday at CAA's World Congress of Sports event.

Sports Business Journal noted that while appearing on stage, Khan outlined TKO Group Holdings’ current strategy as primarily focused on growing its existing properties as opposed to pursuing new acquisitions.   He stated the company is leveraging scale across properties to drive both revenue and cost synergies, especially in sponsorships, media deals, and venue negotiations—often bundling assets together to increase bargaining power.

“The revenue and profitability of the company, the cost synergies, the revenue synergies between WWE and UFC in particular and now Zuffa Boxing are phenomenal, so if you want to do a sponsorship deal with one, maybe you have to do a sponsorship deal with all,” he said. “And we found that that leverage in the marketplace has worked quite well as it applies to venues, television deals or content deals and everything else.”

He emphasized that TKO’s performance is measured by three core metrics: "ratings, revenue, and relevancy", not public criticism.

“I have never read X or Twitter as it relates to our business and I’ve certainly never read it regarding me,” said Khan.

Khan explicitly dismisses social media backlash as a “vocal minority” and says business decisions are not influenced by fan complaints, even though he reviews every complaint that comes through the company's "personalized fan service."

On WWE specifically, Khan said:

*WrestleMania 42 is expected to approach—but possibly not surpass—last year’s gate record.

*International growth is a priority, with revenue from outside the U.S. increasing.

*WWE will hold its first WrestleMania outside North America (obviously, Saudi Arabia) next year, signaling global expansion.  So, as of today, they are not giving any impression publucly the ongoing war will lead to WWE changing their plans.

Khan also briefly reflected on his background, from growing up in Las Vegas and working WrestleMania 9 as an usher to joining WWE in 2020 after a career at CAA, framing his career motivation in pragmatic terms.

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