WWE Earnings Report Shows Company In A Good, Profitable Place

WWE released their quarterly earnings report this week, and the numbers painted an incredibly good [...]

By Ryan Droste

WWE released their quarterly earnings report this week, and the numbers painted an incredibly good outlook for the company moving forward.

Despite (often times valid) complaints from fans and writers alike for creative decisions and what happens on their television shows week in and week out, WWE is still coming out far ahead on what really matters: the earnings sheet.

WWE has changed their 2017 profit projections, now forecasting an even bigger number than previously projected. They had previously forecast a $100 million profit for 2017; that number has now been increased to $108-110 million. WWE is also predicting a $118 million profit for 2018.

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The biggest revenue stream for WWE is their television revenue, and WWE's U.S. deal (their biggest) with NBC Universal expires in September 2019. WWE announced that they will look to announce a new U.S. television rights deal between May and September of next year. Further, they plan to announce new U.K. and India television deals by the end of 2018 and early 2019, respectively. By the time all three new deals are in place, they will have renewed their three biggest television revenue streams.

WWE also announced their latest WWE Network paid subscriber count as part of the 2017 Q3 earnings report this week. They reported that the Network averaged 1.522 million paid subscribers from July 1 to September 30 this year. This is up from Q3 of last year (1.460 million), but down from Q2 of 2017 (1.630 million). The number is typically expected to drop from Q2 to Q3 due to WrestleMania happening during Q2 (April-June). They project 1.47 million paid subscribers for Q4 2017.

As part of the earnings report, WWE did report that live attendance continues to decrease. WWE blamed the decline in attendance as being "due in part to changes in the mix of venues." However, despite the decline in the number of fans coming to the venues, the company continues to make more money on their live events. This is for two reasons: they are charging more for tickets than ever before and they are running more live events due to the brand split.

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WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had the following to say regarding the earnings report.

"We are pleased with our continued success in growing and engaging a large, global audience across multiple platforms. The increased production of original content, our focus on localization and the further development of a diverse talent base contributed to that important achievement, reinforcing the significant scale and power of our brands."

H/T to Brandon Howard of Fightful who has a fantastic breakdown of the business report.

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