August 7, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE second quarter earnings, UFC 214, more
We’ll have the complete WWE business rundown in next week’s issue but the second quarter saw the company set a record for revenue with $214,586,000 and finish the quarter with $5,085,000 in profits.
The same WrestleMania quarter last year did $198,994,000 in revenue and $862,000 in profits.
The profit couldn’t cover the dividend of $9,174,500.
Wall Street didn’t react strongly either way to the news, as at press time the company stock price was at $21.05 per share, giving the company a $1.61 billion market value, roughly the same level it’s been at for months.
The company’s biggest growth and profit center is television rights fees, which accounted for $31,824,000 in profits this quarter while the network segment, which includes PPV, accounted for $2,997,000. House shows, which included everything associated with WrestleMania week, were $21,606,000. The network had actually lost $5,656,000 during the second quarter of last year and house show profits as well as merchandise profits were higher last year due to WrestleMania being in a larger stadium.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.