WWE & UFC: The Striking Benefits Behind The $21B Merger

In early April 2023, a sports industry headline made more noise than Conor McGregor in a press conference: UFC-parent company Endeavor announced its acquisition of WWE to create a new publicly listed company. Endeavor will own 51% of it while existing WWE shareholders will control the remaining 49%. Beyond the benefits that both WWE and UFC will seek by merging, which moves can we expect from this new company shortly? A $21B deal between two entertainment giants dominating their market   Spearheaded by the McMahon family since the 1980s, WWE became a global entertainment empire. Its portfolio comprises brands such as Wrestlemania and popular ambassadors such as Triple H or Dwayne Johnson. Financially speaking, WWE generated $1.29B in 2022. That's ten times more than its competitor All Elite Wrestling, which reported 101M for 2022. This superiority also translates to the digital sphere: the Connecticut-based giant boasts more than 235M followers online. This number drops to almost 9M for All Elite Wrestling. Founded in 1993, UFC now stands as the MMA world’s leading organization. In 2022, it reported a revenue of $1.226B, which represents a 45% increase from 2018. Its main competitor - Bellator - generated an estimated $132M in the same year. UFC also crushes its rivals on social media, gathering more than 120M subscribers worldwide - almost 110M more than Bellator. Dana White’s business reached new heights through the acquisition of smaller leagues - namely Strikeforce in the US or PRIDE in Japan - before being bought out by Endeavor in 2021. In 2023, which benefits for both companies? Seeing those two entertainment powerhouses merge could seem natural as previous links already existed between both organizations. The first connection relates to the core assets of their businesses - athletes. It’s become quite common to see martial artists becoming wrestlers. UFC’s most iconic female champion Ronda Rousey for instance joined WWE in 2018. Conversely, Brock Lesnar and CM Punk both made their MMA debut after successful wrestling careers. Outside of the ring - or the octagon - both companies happened to collaborate with similar companies, such as Monster Energy or Modelo. The latest example is WWE’s superstar Logan Paul inking a sponsorship deal with UFC for his Prime sports drinks brand. However, this merger brings a lot of unprecedented opportunities for both the UFC and the WWE. Hosting events implies renting large and expensive venues, such as The T-Mobile Arena (20,000 seats), in Las Vegas: through the merger, the new entity could benefit from economies of scale by setting up a WWE event the day before a UFC Fight Night. Such events are promoted through social media: combined, both companies boast 355M subscribers on socials. This is more than the...

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