WWE News: Highlights From Today’s Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call

As was noted earlier, the WWE issued its Third Quarter Financial Report today which included a new statement regarding next weekend’s Crown Jewel event, which is still going on as planned (see that here).

The report was also followed up by a conference call featuring WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson along with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in which the three offered up some interesting information regarding the company. Here are the highlights from today’s call:

• Vince begins by speaking about the company “deepening” their production of original content including Miz & Mrs and Mixed Match Challenge. He then discusses the company showcasing its “brand power” with SmackDown 1000 and says they’re looking forward to Evolution and Crown Jewel
• Barrios discusses the financials given in today’s earlier report
• The amount of television being produced is given at 400 hours this quarter, while RAW and SmackDown Live are still USA Network’s highest rated programs
• The fact that Evolution this Sunday has been sold out is brought up multiple times
• 170 hours of digital and social media content including the Mixed Match Challenge were produced, resulting in 29.9 billion views
• Creating more localized content was addressed, as we’ve heard rumors of WWE looking into Germany as its next location for something such as NXT UK
• Barrios says keeping Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia was a “difficult decision”. Vince is then asked about it and says it’s a sensitive subject, then refers back to the original statement on the event
• The drop in Live Event attendance is addressed, Vince stating they know how to fix it and will be working on it moving forward
• The strategy with international brands like NXT UK is brought up and the hope of having places like Performance Centers in various parts of the globe is still the long-term plan as the company tries to widen its reach with talent
• Mixed Match Challenge and the relationship with Facebook are called positive, stating that they learned with season one that 11 minute episodes weren’t long enough and adjusted for season two
• New advertisers are coming on board after that was down in the Third Quarter, as they join with Hyundai, Riot Games and Coca-Cola
• As for rising costs, it’s explained that the company is investing as it did 3-4 years ago with things that are coming through now
• When asked about a tiered pricing WWE Network, which Barrios says they’re getting closer to and might see in 2019
• A question was posed about how many events will run in Saudi Arabia next year, to which the answer was we will find out in the next quarter
• With regards to a possible all-women’s show in the future, it’s been discussed but not worked out yet when and where to do it
• Finally they were asked about Saudi Arabia one more time and the potential risks, to which Barrios said the complexity of the whole situation was obvious before referring back to the original statement again

Highlights c/o PWInsider

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