UFC and WWE report strong year-on-year growth in 2023 as they make their first major financial disclosure as newly merged company TKO Group Holdings – after finalising the deal in September
- A publicly traded company was formalized on the NYSE just over a month ago
- UFC’s massive deal with ESPN is responsible for a large portion of franchise revenue
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UFC and WWE both reported strong year-over-year growth as they released their first major financial disclosure since their historic merger.
In April, it was announced that WWE would be sold to the Endeavor group and merged together with UFC to form a brand new company.
Under the agreement, Endeavor – owner of UFC – will own a 51 percent stake in the combined company, while WWE shareholders will own 49 percent.
The new listed company is called TKO Group Holdings and was formalized just over a month ago.
It was confirmed that the deal values the new company at more than £17.3 billion ($21.4 billion) according to the companies, with UFC valued at £9.8 billion ($12.1 billion) and WWE at £7, 5 billion ($9.3 billion).
And these stratospheric valuations are supported by TKO’s filing of the two sports franchises’ financial earnings for 2022 and 2023, which were delivered to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
Endeavor – the parent company of UFC – completed its WWE merger in September to form a new publicly traded company called ‘TKO Group Holdings’
The new company’s first major financial disclosure came ahead of next week’s third-quarter earnings call
In the first two quarters of 2023, UFC earned £493.7 million ($611.9 million) in revenue from media rights and content, live events, sponsorships and consumer product licensing – with media rights and content making up the largest portion.
UFC’s media rights and content – largely made up of their massive ESPN deal – paid £181 million ($224.1 million) in the first quarter and £171 million ($211.7 million) in the second.
Live events and sponsorships accounted for £51.5 million ($63.8 million) and £43.8 million ($54.2 million) respectively.
The franchise’s annualized return rates were also strong, up 18 percent from the first quarter of 2022 to 2023, and up 14 percent in the second quarter.
WWE posted similarly strong returns, including a stunning second quarter that saw the franchise grow 25 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2023.
The franchise has earned £571.2 million ($706.9 million) under the same metrics as UFC, which earned £240.4 million ($297.6 million) in the first quarter, and £331.5 million ($410.3) million.
Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque – CCO of WWE – Ari Emanuel of Endeavor and Dana White of UFC marked the merger on the New York Stock Exchange
