On Thursday, the WWE announced its second quarter earnings for the year. Despite record revenues, the company’s Q2 profits missed expectations.
According to the WWE earnings call held Thursday morning, revenues grew 32% to a record $199M. Profits are off due in part to spending which included Wrestlemania.
The WWE Network hit 1.52M average paid subscribers which is up 25% over Q2 last year. The Network revenues generated $51.8M in revenues. Per the WWE earnings release, the average monthly churn declined 20% to 9.9% for the first six months of 2016 from 12.3% for the comparable period in 2015.
The release of its earnings comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by over 50 former WWE performers related to head injuries. S&P Global Ratings warned on Thursday that sports-related brain injuries are among the biggest new area for insurance claims.
Of the other numbers indicated in the earnings release was that live events were up from this time in 2015. In 2016, live event net revenues were $51.9M versus $26.4M in 2015. This is due in part to increased ticket prices.
Notably, there were no questions about Brock Lesnar and his failed USADA tests in the UFC. Of course, this may not have a direct impact with the financials. Then again, the fact that the information has surfaced that he was not subject to the WWE Wellness Policy which tests its performers for banned substances might raise questions. In addition, a question about the UFC came about during the call. Essentially, the WWE noted that the UFC is a private company and the sale reflected “the value people are putting on branded live content.”
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