More long-term, he said the TKO team is looking for further efficiencies in marketing, international infrastructure and data and analytics. In terms of bottom-line benefits, Schleimer added that the company will quickly be able to shed some $50 million to $100 million in expenses by streamlining overlapping functions, specifically in the areas of human resources, finance and information technology. “We think ratings, relevancy and revenue for both properties are off the charts.” “It does make one wonder how this might look down the road as both companies and as TKO enters into these negotiations,” Khan said. Speaking to Sports Business Journal last week, WWE President Nick Khan pointed to the recent bidding war between ESPN and NBC parent Comcast for the 21st Century Fox assets. Speculation over TKO’s media rights strategy has been rampant, especially with WWE’s current deals with Fox and NBC expiring next year and UFC’s rights agreement with ESPN ending in 2025. “Imagine a scenario where you can program an entire weekend, where you have a WWE live event on a Friday and a UFC live event on a Saturday, and that’s a package of content.” “A meaningful area for growth for both UFC and WWE are site fees, and getting local municipalities or tourism boards to bring live events into certain markets,” he said. In terms of financial operations, Schleimer highlighted how synergies between UFC and WWE, particularly as live event businesses, will lead to some natural revenue gains. LAWRENCE EPSTEIN: Senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of UFC MARK SHAPIRO: President and chief operating officer*ĭANA WHITE: Chief executive officer of UFCĪNDREW SCHLEIMER: Chief financial officer VINCE MCMAHON: Executive chairman of the board TKO Leadership ARI EMANUEL: Chief executive officer* ![]() Schleimer insisted the new business will continue to benefit from the Endeavor “flywheel” of subsidiaries that can provide services for ticket sales, operations, licensing and more. Though TKO now exists outside Endeavor, the agency remains its largest shareholder with a 51% controlling interest. We have our live events, can expand sponsorship opportunities, expand licensing opportunities.” “It’s very clear we have the ability to create more content. ![]() And on the top line, we’ve done this before,” said Schleimer. So on the back office side, we’ve done this. ![]() “We have the playbook, and we benefit now from seven years of integration into Endeavor. The MMA promotion has tripled in value since then, and Schleimer expects TKO, which he referred to as “UFC 2.0,” can now pursue a similar strategy. But Andrew Schleimer, who has transitioned from CFO of UFC to the same role with TKO, has instead focused on similarities to when Endeavor first acquired UFC for $4 billion seven years ago. The launch of TKO Group Holdings was the monumental merger of UFC and WWE, valued at a combined $21 billion.
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