WWE claimed in a conference call on Thursday that COVID shutdowns and canceling live events, including WrestleMania 36 in Tampa Bay, cost them $90 million in 2020. Despite this, they still had a huge year.
WWE earned $974.2 million in revenue in 2020. Fourth quarter revenue was down to $238.2 million from 2019, going down 26% or $84.6 million.
Stephanie McMahon said, “The landscape has changed. COVID-19 and quarantine accelerated a behavioral viewership shift to streaming platforms. Streaming behemoths are investing heavily in technology and infrastructure in order to scale. With operational efficiencies, creating more flexible pricing options. The biggest thing all of these providers have in common is the need for branded content.
In order to be competitive, we need to pivot away from the technology necessary for an optimum user experience and allocate our resources against what we do best; content creation, production, and storytelling. We get to do it with a trusted partner we have had for 30 years; NBCU. Partnering with NBCU’s Peacock not only provides a greater value proposition for our current subscribers, it also allows us to deliver our most premium content to a significantly larger audience, including the 33 million people who have already signed up for the service.
Additionally, the partnership gives greater access to NBCU’s best-in-class teams across sales, marketing and promotion across some of the most iconic franchises in the United States and around the world. With NBCU and Peacock; every three years is the Super Bowl, every two years is the Olympics, and every year is WrestleMania. We believe more than ever in the power of our brand.”
