7 Things We Learned From WWE's Q3 Earnings Conference Call
5. Advertisers Galore
Ratings may be in a permanent state of decline, but television continues to be WWE's most lucrative revenue stream, with the company generating approximately 15% more income from this source in Q3 2017 than Q3 2016.
This is largely down to an ever-increasing pool of advertisers. On the call, Wilson stated that WWE's ongoing expansion has attracted a "record number of sponsors." NBCUniversal (the USA Network's parent company) have helped bring 20 new advertisers to Raw and SmackDown throughout 2017. This means that the company's total sponsor count has increased from 100 to almost 200 within the past three years, with Wilson citing Nationwide, Kraft, and Toyota as big-name brands they've been able to attract.
The situation shows that there's still life in WWE's TV business, despite the downward trend on viewing figures. There's an upper limit on how far they can take this, though. NBCU only have so much advertising space to sell, and while they've done a good job in bringing new sponsors to WWE programming, they'll likely hit a ceiling before long, unless they start demanding the promotion plaster the ringside area, Superstar attire, and the entrance ramp with advertiser logos.