WWE released financial data for the second quarter of 2022 on Monday in a new SEC filing. The complete earnings report will be made public later on Tuesday morning, before the market opens. At 8:30 AM ET, WWE will host its quarterly investors call.
We already mentioned how the recent resignation of former Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon may have a negative impact on the company’s ability to innovate and make money. You can access those comments by clicking here. More notes from the SEC filing are provided below:
* WWE reported fiscal second-quarter revenues of $328+ million in 2022, an increase of almost $63 million from the corresponding time in 2021. Net Media revenue increased to $328+ million from Q2 2021’s $265 million. Live Event revenue increased from $9.2 million in the same period in 2021 to $41+ million in 2022. Consumer goods had an increase to $44 million from Q2 2021’s $22 million.
* Live event income increased as a result of touring. Sales of tickets in North America reached $34.9 million, up from $6.6 million for the same period in 2021, when WrestleMania 37 was the only live event.
* Live event product sales for WWE reached $73 million. 400,300 people attended 55 WWE events throughout the quarter. This is an increase from 40,000 for the same quarter in 2021, when WrestleMania 37 in Tampa was the sole live event that took place. WWE’s four overseas events drew an average of 6,550 fans, while North American events had an average of 6,800 fans each event.
* WWE received $5.6 million in license income from the video game WWE 2K22. Trading cards and collectibles took in an additional $3.1 million.
* WWE mentioned that they filed a motion to dismiss the continuing anti-trust case from MLW on March 15 and that MLW issued their official response on April 22. WWE reiterated how they believe MLW’s claims are without merit, writing, “The Company believes that all claims in the lawsuit are without merit and intends to defend itself vigorously against them.”
* In the first six months, WWE spent under $20 million on content creation for Miz & Mrs., WWE Evil, their A&E programming, and other Peacock/WWE Network programming. This is more than the $9.1 million that was spent over the same time period in 2021. WWE plans to spend between $20 and $30 million on programming for the remaining months of 2022 as they remain committed to producing new material. WWE has already earned $4 million in content development incentives for this year, and they anticipate receiving another $10 million by the end of the year. WWE is benefiting from tax breaks and incentives for producing content in specific regions.
* With regard to the “substantially complete” investigation into McMahon, the business spent $1.7 million on general and administrative expenditures in Q2 and currently expects to need to spend about $10 million in the remaining months of 2022, with additional costs exceeding that amount.
They stated, “As previously announced, a Special Committee of independent members of the Company’s Board of Directors was formed to investigate alleged misconduct by the Company’s former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon. The Special Committee investigation is substantially complete. Mr. McMahon resigned from all positions held with the Company on July 22, 2022 but remains a stockholder with a controlling interest. While we currently anticipate spending approximately $10 million during the remainder of the year related to this investigation, the related costs could exceed this estimate.”
* In the first half of 2021, Vince returned $1.2 million, and as of this writing, in 2022 he has paid $2.2 million. He is expected to pay or has already paid $19.6 million in unrecorded expenses, the majority of which seem to be connected to the NDA payments.
Regarding the McMahon situation, WWE wrote, “As previously announced, a Special Committee of independent members of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) was formed to investigate alleged misconduct by the Company’s former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon. Mr. McMahon resigned from all positions held with the Company on July 22, 2022 but remains a stockholder with a controlling interest. The Company has received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters. The Special Committee investigation is substantially complete.”
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
