10 Things Keeping WWE Alive Right Now
4. Partnerships
A core component of keeping the WWE brand running and making money is through the licensing partnerships they have. I covered Mattel earlier, but theres a few other partners to discuss that make millions for WWE while enhancing the brand at the same time.
The 2K deal to produce an annual WWE video game has been a huge success. With the 2013 work with Ultimate Warrior, a 2014 release with Sting and the 2015 promotional campaign with Steve Austin, the 2K deal has managed to utilise big names that arent on the road week to week, in an effort to perhaps bring former fans back into the fold to check out the new talent and get the current fans spending money every year on a new game with updated rosters.
The era of the straight-up autobiography seems to be over, but WWEs book deal with DK Publishing has seen some new ideas come to the table, ideas that have gone on to be successful at book stores across the globe. From huge coffee table books on 50 years of WWE and The Attitude Era to superstar books focusing on The Ultimate Warrior, this global relationship sees massive book sales in America, Europe and many other countries.
These two major partnerships, along with global licensing on DVDs and toy retailers and sponsorship on TV shows by companies like Kays Jewellers, are lucrative deals for WWE and continue to be a great revenue stream for the company.