Expert Insists WWE Is Preparing For Sale
Even more evidence that WWE is getting ready to be sold?
With plentiful speculation in recent weeks and months that WWE could be gearing up to be sold, financial expert Laura Martin of Needham is insisting that, yes, Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment behemoth is indeed preparing for a sale.
Martin (as reported by Benzinga) believes that WWE is getting ready for acquisition, citing how WWE licensing the WWE Network to Peacock is a major indicator of this.
As Martin put it:
“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.”
To help break this down a little, “US OTT” refers to US over-the-top media service, in this case the WWE Network. As for "ROICs", that's the Return on Invested Capital - meaning WWE can bring in a greater return by striking a deal with, in this case, Peacock.
Martin added how more than three-quarters of WWE’s revenue will come from media contracts at present, which is clearly also helped out by Peacock having become the exclusive US host of the WWE Network. As such, WWE finds itself presented as a lower risk profile than other similar organisations.
Going further, Laura Martin detailed how WWE is too small a company to “go it alone” in the streaming world, and that the current long-term deals WWE has in place should give would-be investors an idea of the possible purchasers when WWE is sold “some day”.