TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro recently detailed key aspects of WWE’s business strategy, including ticket pricing, live event scheduling, and media rights, during an appearance at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston. Through dynamic pricing and yield management, Shapiro sees “tremendous upside” in WWE ticket revenue.
He defended TKO’s decision to reduce the number of annual WWE live events from approximately 300 to around 200, stating it wasn’t solely to improve profit margins, and that further “pruning” of the schedule might occur.
Regarding WWE’s Premium Live Event (PLE) broadcast rights, currently with NBC Universal/Peacock until March 2026, Shapiro confirmed ongoing renewal talks. He emphasized TKO isn’t afraid of working with multiple media partners, calling it smart business despite admitting that as a viewer, “I can’t stand it.”
Shapiro noted there’s no rush to finalize a new media deal, stressing the importance of finding the right partners. He characterized WWE PLEs as “very high quality and low volume.” The value of the WWE content library was reportedly not discussed during his appearance.
H/T to F4Wonline.com