Vince McMahon Making Moves To Sell WWE – Financial Expert Insists

It has come and gone in waves, the talk about WWE being sold, it was believed there was real potential Vince McMahon was gearing up to sell the company, emphasized by the fact big contracts were cut from the talent payroll. In other weeks, the talk has quieted. What’s really going on?

There is every sign point to WWE gearing up for a sale, eventually according to a financial expert. Laura Martin of Needham says that, yes, the extremely popular sports entertainment brand looks like it is going to be sold and Vince is making shrewd business moves to prepare for that sale.

Report has it that Laura Martin insists that WWE is lining their ducks up in a row, citing the WWE licensing deal of the WWE Network to Peacock as the biggest indicator a sale is coming. Martin explains: “The US OTT rights fees alone generated over 100% of 2020’s total OTT Network’s revs, so international fees are just gravy, and cutting out all OTT Network costs implies that this new strategy has much higher ROICs than running a direct-to-consumer business.”

This simply means that the fact WWE got out of the business of running the business of streaming it’s product to consumers, then let another company have the rights to do so was a smart financial move — if the objective is to be sold. US OTT refers to over-the-top media service.

Essentially, WWE has cut out the costs of running the network and made a huge chunk of money by selling the rights to the content. The decision looks good to outside potential buyers.

When WWE might sell was not part of the article, but it sure sounds like WWE might be thinking about doing something sooner than later. As of now, it seems to more of a “some day” situation than an “imminent” one.