TKO exec on WWE brand strategy: ‘You’re going to win some folks over & chase some folks away’
In a clip shared Monday from a college appearance last week, TKO head Mark Shapiro made some headlines with comments about WWE’s use of celebrities, a now infamous quote about “creative control” and an admission that their strategy might chase soem fans away.
During an appearance at the University of Alabama (heard below), Shapiro was asked about whether TKO has creative control over decisions like bringing in celebrities like Pat McAfee, Jelly Roll and iShowSpeed into the WWE world amid online complaints that WWE is more focused on moments and money making than anything else.
Shapiro said, “It has complete control. We’re responsible: good or bad, fact or fiction.”
While the immediate reaction has been that TKO is instructing Paul Levesque in what to do to with creative, it’s unclear if that is what Shapiro was trying to say or if “it” was more in the vein of traditional corporate synergy on decision-making vs. no input.
Shapiro did chalk criticism up to the fact that TKO is a public company now and that before Vince McMahon went public with WWE, “they didn’t put out financial results” and “no one knew it was successful,” noting that the brand with strong with a legion of fans but that was all people knew.
“Now, everything’s kind of out there,” he said, putting over WWE’s growth in every area and crediting their media strategy of Netflix, ESPN, USA and The CW.
He then said about stars, “I don’t think that part is true, but if it was, good” before talking about how The Rock is the biggest star on the planet. It’s unclear from the five minute clip what he was referring to.
He did say that, “Having Hollywood tie-ins and celebrities….that’s not new. It’s juston a larger stage,” mentioning the names above plus Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Haliburton.
He acknowledged that “you can make some enemies really quickly” when content is spread across multiple platforms.
“We’re spending a lot more money to market the brand and the content. When you do that, you’re going to win some folks over and chase some folks away,” he said, illustrating how it’s not just WWE and citing how he read a story about New York Yankees fans would have to spend $1000 this season over ten digital platforms if they wanted to watch every game.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.