WWE's Q3 FY21 earnings call and notes. We'll have a full report tonight.
- Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon WWE CFO Kristina Salen are on today's call.
- As per usual on these calls, Vince McMahon kicks things off with a brief description of the call.
- Nick Khan notes that the media rights between WWE and Hulu end on the back half of 2022.
- Nick Khan notes that the WWE Raw re-air media rights between WWE and Hulu end on the back half of 2022. He says that the landscape in 2018 when they landed this deal, things were much different. He expects this to be a big jump for WWE.
- Nick Khan says WWE will be "announcing a slew of scripted and unscripted" content.
- Nick Khan says WWE is bullish on their upcoming WWE rights negotiations for their shows. He mentions the Premier League looking to double their U.S. rights.
- Nick Khan has name dropped Apple, Amazon, Fox, Netflix, among others. He calls the upcoming Vince McMahon show on Netflix is "out of this world."
- Nick Khan speaks on the PPV schedule. They're leaning heavily into U.S. stadiums, Saturdays. Them not going against the Winter Olympics for Royal Rumble was important to them and their NBCU partners.
- Nick Khan says WWE will work in more integration to appeal to specific geographic markets like having NBA star Trae Young on their show in a cameo role.
- Stephanie McMahon says she has to share some bad news.....The Miz was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars.
- Stephanie McMahon puts over the zombie integration and Pure Life ad deal, saying you could never see Patrick Mahomes spray down the audience with a Pure Life truck after a touchdown in the NFL....but you can in WWE!
- Stephanie McMahon compares WWE to Marvel, saying that each Superstar is their own brand, much like Marvel characters.
- Nick Khan says the re-air rights will be settled by the time the Hulu deal is up in the second half of 2022. They expect more international rights done in "short order." WWE has shifted from investing in their own films to licensing their own content and IP. There's less risk.
- WWE believes the metaverse is here to stay and will become more robust, per Nick Khan.
- Nick Khan wants the most efficient business model while producing high end content. They've been re-evaluating their staff and management over the last year and a half.
- Nick Khan says WWE wanted a younger, fresher approach with NXT 2.0. He says we'll see more NXT talent heading to Raw and Smackdown.
- Nick Khan says there's a constant dialogue on what to keep on the Network, what to put on linear TV, what to license, and what to sell separately.
