7 Things We Learned From WWE’s 2017 Record Report

4. Television Rights Are Still The Biggest Earner

WWE Production Truck
WWE.com

As mentioned previously, television rights fees make up a huge portion of WWE's annual profit. Regular viewers may see that third hour of Monday Night Raw as a nuisance, but it adds so much to company coffers that it'd be foolish for WWE to remove it just to improve the show's flow.

In WWE's mind, giving writers more work is a small sacrifice to pay in order to pad the promotion's bank account.

Examine the balance sheet included in the 20-page financial report and it becomes clear why McMahon and other upper management are so keen to continue with their current model. In 2017 alone, the net revenue for television was a massive $270.2 million. That's up over 2016's $241.7 million.

The fourth quarter was again an improvement over 2016 for WWE last year. TV fees were up from $68.6 million to $75.3 million; similarly, money gleaned from the Network for the final three months of the year was also up from $43.7 million to $46.2 million, something WWE claim represents a boost in consumer interest.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.