Featured Image Credit: WWE
Topics: Vince McMahon, WWE, Wrestling
Adnan Riaz
WWE CEO and chairman Vince McMahon revealed his world-renowned wrestling promotion brought in over a staggering $1bn for the first time ever in 2021.
McMahon’s wrestling empire crossed the $1bn mark during its Q4 2021, with revenue increasing by 30 per cent to a whopping $310.3m.
Forbes reports that WWE’s record-breaking revenue reached an eye-watering $1.095bn in 2021, which was a 12 per cent revenue increase from 2020.
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The milestone figures for WWE came after McMahon’s promotion inked a lucrative deal with NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock in January 2021.
As part of the multi-year exclusive partnership, Peacock secured the streaming rights to the WWE Network in the US.
However, WWE also attempted to curve costs in 2021 and multiple wrestlers were axed from the company, including Jeff Hardy, Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman.
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McMahon, 76, announced WWE’s money-spinning revenue during an earnings call on Thursday.
According to Wrestling Headlines, the wrestling tycoon ‘touted the achievement twice’ during his opening statement on the earnings call.
And McMahon insisted that they “reimagined our business” and hailed the company’s “remarkable” revenue from 2021.
“As you know, we generated a considerable increase in profit and revenue with revenue over $1billion, which is somewhat remarkable for us,” he said.
“During the course of the year, we reimagined our business and reimagining our business is something, by the way, we do just about every month, if not every week around here.
“[…] We obviously remain focused on our upcoming year of 2022, as well as years to come with working toward record revenue again as well as adjusted OIBDA and what have you.
“So, our performance, we think, pretty much speaks for itself and it speaks for the longevity we’ve had for so many years, the opportunities that are there for us to grow exponentially.”
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The WWE CEO and chairman added in a press release that WWE reached a “significant milestone” by crossing the $1bn revenue mark.
“In 2021, we reached a significant milestone of over $1 billion in revenue, for the first time in the company’s history,” McMahon said.
“We ended the year with strong performance across each of our business lines that reflected the engagement of a wider audience with distribution on new digital platforms, including Peacock, and the return of fans at our live events.
“We expect the execution of key initiatives in the coming year, such as the licensing of network content in international markets, monetisation of new original series, and the continued shift to a stadium strategy for WWE’s premium live events, will further expand the reach of our brands and enhance the value of our content.”