WWE Sees Revenue Increase By 24% In 2022 Second Quarter Earnings Report

WWE’s second quarter of 2022 saw Vince McMahon’s retirement and Triple H’s appointment as the Head of Creative. The second quarter of 2022 brought in more than $328 million in revenue for WWE. It is up more than $63 million from the same period in 2021, according to WWE. The data was made public in a 10-Q filing recently.

In contrast to their customary 5 PM Eastern conferences, WWE earlier in the day announced they will host its Q2 investors call at 8:30 AM Eastern on Tuesday. Due to adjustments the company needs to make to prior financial statements as a result of McMahon’s unrecorded spending, the Q2 call was postponed until this morning.

From $265 million in Q2 of the previous year, net media revenue increased to $328+ million in Q2. Consumer goods ($44 million up from $22 million) and live event income ($41+ million up from $9.2 million) were the main contributors. When WrestleMania alone was staged in Tampa, Florida last year, ticket sales in North America reached $34.9 million, an increase from the $6.6 million they had the year before.

Revenue was $328.2 million, an increase of 24%; Operating Income was $69.3 million, an increase of 50%; and Adjusted OIBDA1 was $91.5 million, an increase of 34%

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Returned capital to shareholders totaling $19.1 million, including share repurchases and dividends paid

Each WWE premium live event (WrestleMania, WrestleMania Backlash and Hell in a Cell) was the most viewed event in its history with year-over-year increases of 60%, 49% and 45%, respectively, in domestic unique viewership on Peacock

WWE, in connection with Fox’s Blockchain Creative Labs, launched its inaugural NFT sale on Moonsault, the Company’s official NFT marketplace. The limited-edition collection, which was tied to the Hell in a Cell event, sold out within 24 hours

WWE announced its second “Next In Line” class of 15 college athletes, further enhancing the Company’s talent development program

In July, WWE launched a new, enhanced digital platform for e-commerce and licensed merchandise in connection with its long-term partnership with Fanatics

Over 55 events, there were 400,300 live attendees overall for the quarter, up from 40,400 the previous year, two nights of WrestleMania in Tampa. The average attendance for four international events was 6550, while it was 6800 for North America. $7.3 million was made selling products during live events. Trading cards and other collectibles contributed to the $3.1 million in license revenue that was generated with the release of WWE 2K22.

WWE has stated that it will continue to invest in original content, noting that they spent less than $20 million in the first half of the year on A&E, Miz & Mrs., WWE Evil, and other programs on the WWE Network, compared to $9.1 million the year before. The remainder of the year, they planned to spend $20 to $30 million on content. They earned $4 million in “content development incentives” this year, and another $10 million is anticipated for the remainder of the year.

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