Nick Khan Believes WWE Is In A ‘Good Position’ Ahead Of Media Rights Negotiations

One of the biggest talking points ever since Vince McMahon returned to the WWE, other than the company’s impending sale, has been the media rights negotiations. WWE’s media rights deal is up this year, and the company will be looking to negotiate a new deal with its partners.

Earlier this year, WWE announced that they are looking for strategic alternatives in relation to the upcoming media rights negotiations. One of the strategic alternatives involves a potential sale of the company which would take place before the media rights deals for RAW and SmackDown are finalized.

WWE CEO Nick Khan recently spoke to Sports Business Journal where he discussed WWE’s position ahead of the media rights negotiations.

“If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we’re in a good position. We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter,” said Khan.

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Nick Khan also mentioned that “there’s plenty of money” out there for WWE, despite the media rights negotiations coinciding with that of NASCAR and the NBA. “We believe there’s plenty of money out there for us,” he confidently said.

Nick Khan also commented on navigating a potential sale of the company with the media rights negotiations saying that it’s the trickiest part to deal with.

“That’s probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that.”

As the clock ticks down on WWE’s media rights negotiations, it will be interesting to see what strategic alternatives they could be thinking of with regard to the future of the company. Until then, stay tuned to Ringside News as we bring you similar stories.

What strategic alternatives do you think WWE is planning? Will they be able to sell the company before the media rights negotiations? Sound off in the comments section.