WWE tipped to make at least $50 million in aggressive cuts following UFC merger
In a historic move, WWE and UFC merged for a whopping $21.4 Billion. The merger has sparked concerns about job cuts in the wrestling industry, which has exploded in popularity around the world in recent decades.
Mark Shapiro, COO of Endeavor, discussed strategies for reducing expenses and hiring top personnel.
According to Shapiro, these include human resources, finance, legal, communications, production, distribution, and marketing.
According to a report by News18, Shapiro hinted at layoffs, stating:
“Anything from H.R. to finance to legal to communications production to distribution and marketing. Across every area, you’re going to find cost synergies. You’re going to integrate and ultimately highlight and appoint the best and brightest teams.”
It has been estimated that UFC is worth roughly $12.1 billion, while WWE is worth around $9.3 billion. The proprietors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Endeavor Group Holding Inc., will possess 51% of the business, with WWE shareholders owning the remaining 49%.
The WWE and the UFC will be merged into a single publicly traded entity called TKO. Since Endeavor’s acquisition, UFC stock prices have gone up steadily as well. When Endeavor acquired the UFC in 2016, Shapiro predicted that the firm will follow the same model with WWE.
Vince McMahon, 77, returned to his post as chairman of WWE after taking a leave of absence in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations made against him by female performers. Many wrestling fans now believe McMahon should be fired because of the cover-up hush money he gave the wrestlers for their quiet.
According to insiders at the firm, McMahon’s future at Endeavor was a hot topic of discussion amongst fans.
It was clear that Vince McMahon intended to sell WWE to the highest bidder when he returned as Executive Chairman. WWE was sold to Endeavor, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after nearly a month of negotiations. It has been revealed that by combining with the UFC, WWE will save $50 million.
Many were worried that WWE’s production and roster will be drastically reduced after news of the merger hit the headlines.
Nick Khan stated on Lightshed Live that WWE will be cutting costs by at least $50 million. Khan emphasized that what viewers see on screen will not be significantly altered.
“If you look at what Endeavor was able to take out, cost-wise, from UFC in 2016 or shortly after that deal was done, we have the same expectation here. We think 50 (million) is a really conservative number. We have integration teams now, we’re going to get those in shape, I think we’ll have a better sense of it in a month or two.”
“We’re going to be pretty aggressive with them to make sure that, for our shareholders and for our company, our organization is as lean and mean as possible, and we’re going to rely on the Endeavor flywheel to make up the rest. The most important thing is to leave the product untouched. Untouched, meaning, if Triple H and Kevin Dunn want to evolve it, great, but in terms of cutbacks there, that’s not what we’re looking to do.”
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