TKO Group Combines UFC and WWE Live Events
UFC and WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings will be combining the live events groups of both businesses into one called the TKO Live Events Strategy Team. Thursday’s announcement comes eight months after the two mixed martial arts brands merged.
The restructuring will allow TKO to better coordinate the two leagues’ efforts, likely leading to more ‘TKO weekends’ where UFC and WWE events take place back-to-back. The company held such a weekend in February, holding UFC 298 and Monday Night Raw at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
More from Sportico.com
Lionel Messi Brand Sales Slump in Final Quarter of Hilfiger-Led Effort
Vince McMahon Fires Back in Ex-Employee's Sex-Trafficking Suit
Finlete Offers 'PG Version of OnlyFans' as Pro Investing Grows
“While it’s early innings, this partnership establishes a template for how we will leverage the global popularity of our two iconic brands by packaging events for arenas and tourism authorities around the world,” TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said on a call with Wall Street analysts in February.
The new TKO unit will be led by Peter Dropick, who has been part of UFC’s live event leadership for almost two decades, according to a press release from TKO. Dropick’s new title is TKO executive vice president, event development and operations.
Live events are one of the main revenue streams for TKO, with the UFC and WWE generating a combined $86 million in live event revenue in the first quarter of this year. A major responsibility of Dropick’s will be maximizing revenue, including site fees the company gets from cities wishing to host events. For instance, WWE is in the midst of a 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia, paying it $100 million to hold two events there annually in a deal inked prior to the merger.
The combination of the two live event teams also fulfills some of the operational efficiency goals TKO cited when the business was formed in September. At that time, management said it expected to locate upwards of $100 million in savings from the UFC-WWE combination. In January, the business combined the two leagues’ sports marketing divisions in a similar move.
TKO was formed when Endeavor Group Holdings purchased WWE and spun off its UFC division with it into a new publicly traded business. At the time, the deal valued the combined businesses at more than $21 billion.
Best of Sportico.com
