WWE Denies Saudi Arabia Rumours, Takeover In Doubt?
Major new twist in WWE/Saudi Arabia sale story - is the takeover deal OFF? Was it ever even on?!
WWE is now not being sold to the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund...or at very least, there's no clear confirmation of it anymore. Not yet, anyway.
Confused? So's everybody else in the space it seems. The latest dramatic twist in the WWE sale tale has found various reputable reporters noting that last night's breaking news maybe wasn't news at all, noting that the original sourced tweet from DAZN's Steven Muehlhausen has been deleted along with rubbish rumours of a sale themselves.
Tweets from Rich Greenfield of Light Shed, Wrestlenomics' Brandon Thurston and Ariel Helwani have all poured cold water on the news, with only the latter commenting that the story is even "developing" or still on the table, rather than off entirely.
What happened @SMuehlhausenJr to your WWE breaking news?
We're hearing your now deleted tweet below is 100% false - unfortunately the fake news already went viral pic.twitter.com/EDtgaChk0E
Advertisement— Rich Greenfield, LightShed ? (@RichLightShed) January 11, 2023
I concur with @RichLightShed. I asked someone at WWE, who would know, who said the story that took hold of Twitter last night, about WWE and Saudi Arabia being near a deal to take the company private, is untrue.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) January 11, 2023
Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say.
AdvertisementThe organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 11, 2023
Per the original tweet and various follow-ups after the fact, the deal was as good as done earlier today, but this has thrown everything back to the speculative stages.
To recap; the Saudi PIF emerged as potential buyers for WWE last week, when Vince McMahon returned to the promotion stating his desire to engineer an advantageous new media rights deal with the company, with the accompanying Wall Street Journal report noting the 77-year-old's intention to sell the promotion. Bryan Alvarez foreshadowed Muehlhausen news with his own teaser tweet, before Cassidy Haynes and others followed up fleshing out the deal based on information from their own sources.
This followed news on Monday that JPMorgan had been brought in to help with the sale, though a timeline of "three to six months" was posited less than 24 hours before the PIF story took hold.
As usual, more on this dramatic and industry-altering story as it develops.