WWE and UFC merge into one company

The announcement came in the aftermath of the most anticipated show of the year, the 39th edition of WrestleMania. The new era of WWE and sports entertainment has officially begun. Vince McMahon has agreed to merge with UFC’s owner Endeavor Group to form a new publicly traded company, the name of which will be released at a later date. Endeavor will have 51%, the shareholders already present in WWE will have 49%. The agreement states that the valuations attributed to the two companies are respectively 12.1 and 9.3 billion dollars. That WWE was up for sale had already been known for several months, since Vince McMahon returned to leadership of the company in January after retiring from the scene last July following a series of economic and sexual scandals. Indeed, it was clear that McMahon’s new settlement was directly linked to the evaluation of potential buyers and subsequent sales operations, and not to have any influence on internal decision-making processes. He will maintain this institutional and non-creative role also in the new company while Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, will also hold the same position in the company. Dana White, president of the UFC, and Nick Khan, CEO of WWE, who will oversee wrestling affairs, also remain in place. The board of directors will be composed of eleven members, six appointed by Endeavor and five by WWE.

Differences and similarities

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The agreement intervened between two very different ways of understanding combat sports: the WWE offers predetermined matches inserted within a story to be told to the spectators, the UFC is pure violence between mixed martial arts athletes. However, there is a common denominator in terms of content and culture, it is no coincidence that figures such as Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar have spent their time in both contexts. “It is a unique opportunity that allows us to bring together two leading companies in sports and entertainment,” explained Emmanuel. Both Endeavor and WWE have very similar revenues, both in fact closed 2022 with about 1.3 billion dollars in terms of receipts. Another aspect that brings them closer is the eccentricity of the owners, who often find themselves in controversial situations. Dana White, for example, has been overwhelmed by criticism after a video of him slapping his wife at a New Year’s party was released a few months ago. However, Endeavor has a much more diverse presence in the organization of sporting events, ranging from rodeos to the Miami and Madrid Opens in tennis.