WWE hosts house shows every weekend on Saturday and Sunday nights. But that might be seeing changes soon. TKO COO Mark Shapiro recently shed some light on the matter.
Ever since WWE’s acquisition by the Endeavor Group and its merger with the UFC to create TKO, various changes have been occurring within the company, prompting a reconsideration of the significance and frequency of these live events.
WWE’s live events, commonly known as house shows, have traditionally served a variety of purposes. They have provided the company with an opportunity to connect with fans in local markets, given wrestlers valuable in-ring experience, and have helped rehearse and perfect future televised matches. However, with WWE’s revenue model shifting, it’s now heavily dependent on guaranteed TV rights deals rather than revenue from gate.
Speaking at the UBS media conference via WrestleNomics, Mark Shapiro addressed the potential reduction of house shows, citing “margin perspective” as the driving factor behind this consideration. In corporate terms, “margin perspective” implies that these shows may not be profitable for the company. WWE has recently undergone corporate layoffs, indicating a financial evaluation of its operations.
Shapiro emphasized that while there are valid reasons to host house shows for brand-building and audience expansion purposes, they might not be financially efficient. The intention is to assess opportunities for streamlining these non-televised events and potentially reducing their frequency. This move aims to improve profit margins and overall operational efficiency within the company.
“While there’s a reason to have them because it’s good for the brand, we’re building [an] audience, we’re putting them on in C and D counties, so we’re really stretching the brand, and we’re amassing a greater array of eyeballs from all demos so it’s good for our long-term growth. Through a margin perspective, they are dilutive. So there’s probably an opportunity as we go through our efficiencies and our synergy opportunities to cut back on some of those non-televised events, which will push our margin up so we are going through that exercise now.”
