TKO Talking To Department of Justice About Massive WWE & UFC Weekend Events

WWE and UFC’s merger is complete and TKO Holdings Group is now being traded on the NYSE. This is a big moment for WWE, and for investors’ bank accounts, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

On September 12th, WWE and UFC completed their official merger, forming the publicly traded company TKO. Despite this merger, WWE and UFC will maintain their separate operations.

Now operating under the Endeavor umbrella, there is potential for crossover between WWE and UFC during major event weekends.

Bill Simmons on the Bill Simmons podcast, WWE CEO Nick Khan was asked about the possibilities of WWE and UFC running events on the same weekends. It seems that those talks are starting.

“The conversations are just beginning now. Everybody wanted to make sure that we got all the regulatory approvals in place. Department of Justice approval, SEC approval, a couple of international approvals that we needed and obviously, we got all of those. The conversations are happening now. Yes, what everyone envisions is, can you set up an all-star TKO weekend where SmackDown goes on Friday, UFC on Saturday with pay-per-view, and WWE goes with a premium live event on Sunday. Can you do that from the same city? Certainly, a lot of cost efficiencies there in terms of production, but a lot of revenue efficiencies in terms of upside there as well.”

“Certainly, the fighters and WWE superstars stay separate. Could you have a Ronda Rousey or Brock Lesnar come along who can cross from one to the other? Sure, but that’s a once-in-a-decade type of thing. In terms of production, [UFC Exec VP/Operations & Production] Craig Borsari and [WWE Line Producer] Kevin Dunn, they’ve had a number of conversations on those efficiencies, how it might look, how it might work. Hopefully, we have some news on that in a couple of months.”

Nick Khan mentioned that WWE and UFC have agreed to avoid scheduling their major events concurrently. He explained that they wouldn’t want UFC events to coincide with WrestleMania weekend, and likewise, WWE wouldn’t plan significant shows during prominent UFC events, such as those held at Madison Square Garden in November.

“Ideally, what we like, especially if you look at the international expansion of WWE’s premium live events and UFC’s already expansion, you could see a lot of events of ‘WWE is going at 3pm eastern from an international location, UFC is going at 8 eastern domestically,’ or the opposite of that. We like that too because you have two gates, two merchandise, in theory, if you get a government subsidy for the international or domestic show, you have that and boom, both events are right there. By planning in advance, I don’t believe we’ll trip over each other in any way.”

WWE and UFC have run events on the same night in the past. It may be unavoidable, but at least they will be able to make a collective effort to make sure that there is a symbiotic relationship between the two companies. Obviously, a lot of things need to be figured out, but the talks have started.

WWE and UFC will keep their media deals separate, as that has already been addressed. Each company has their own system at this time, and there is no indication that they will change that.

The new TKO Holdings Group is set to take off with all the steam and momentum they can right out of the gate. WWE and UFC will also be massive when it comes to cashflow. Through this whole merger, Triple H will also keep his position in WWE as Chief Content Officer.

We will continue covering this story, and so many more, right here at Ringside News. The news never stops, especially when there are so many big stories going down all over the landscape.

What’s your take on WWE and UFC merging? Do you like the idea of the new TKO Holdings Group company? Sound off in the comments to let us know what you think!