Bengaluru, April 24: WWE presented the First Quarter 2020 Earnings call from their headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Presented by WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, interim Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick, and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz, the company disclosed their earnings during COVID-19 outbreak, future of Saudi Arabia deal, 2K21 video game and more.

Vince McMahon accepted the negative impact created on WWE due to the coronavirus pandemic. But actions were taken such as recent budget cuts that ensured the profit margin continues to move into the upwards direction.

While WWE had to stop hosting live shows across the country, their TV deals with NBC Universal and FOX helped revenues to increase up to 60% to $291.0 million as compared to the first quarter of 2019. Net Income was $26.2 million as compared to a loss of $8.4 million to Q1, last year. WWE Network pulled 1.46 million paid subscribers, on average during this period.

Here's more from the official statement released on revenue on WWE's corporate website.

* Revenues increased 60% to $291.0 million as compared to the prior year quarter

* Operating income was $53.3 million as compared to a loss of $6.8 million in the prior year quarter

* Adj. OIBDA1 increased to $77.3 million from $12.4 million in the prior year quarter

* Announced multi-year distribution agreements with Sony Pictures Networks in India and DAZN in Germany to extend the reach of WWE content across television and digital platforms

* WWE Network average paid subscribers were 1.46 million, consistent with the Company's guidance

* Digital video views increased 25% to 9.6 billion and hours consumed increased 15% to 344 million across digital and social media platforms.

WrestleMania 36 proved to be a major success for the company despite it's not being an extravaganza, this year. WrestleMania Week set a record viewership with more than 967 million video views across digital and social platforms, showing a 20% increase from last year. WWE Universe consumed a record 46 million hours of content during the week which was an increase of 28% from 2019.

WrestleMania 36 also proved to be the most social event in WWE history with more than 13.8 million social media interactions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, in total which is up 57% against last year's WrestleMania 35.

WrestleMania 36 weekend subscriber addition for WWE Network (Friday-Sunday) was the highest in its history, as well. Total subscribers were up by 5% from last year reaching 2.10 million on April 6, 2020.



Vince McMahon informed WWE's next tour in Saudi Arabia is up in the air amid Coronavirus pandemic. It is something that has a huge impact on the company's revenue. But hopefully, the company won't be losing money from this deal with Saudi. A date in November 2019 was said to be fixed which could be pushed back in December depending on the situation.

Following the first 2020 Saudi Arabia show in the form of Super ShowDown 2020, WWE may have to cancel their second show in the fall but that won't lose them any revenue from the Saudis, according to Vince on the Q1 call.

He said the "good part" about the second 2020 show potentially getting canceled is that they'd just "tack it onto" the backside of the 10-year contract. It means the event could be just postponed rather than entirely scrapped.



It was also made official during the conference call that WWE 2K21 video game won't be released, later this fall. WWE Interim Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick was asked by the investors if the video game was in the budget for 2020 but he stated that the game won't be launched. He did not necessarily provide a reason why.

We will be sharing details on the future of the WWE 2K franchise as well as some exciting news on Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT.

— #WWE2K20 (@WWEgames) April 24, 2020

Later, the official Twitter of WWE 2K Games announced they will share details on the future of WWE 2K franchise on Monday, April 27. Apparently, they have some backup plans as they teased having some exciting news in-store.