The current TV broadcast rights for the WWE are set to expire in 2019. As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that a number of companies have shown their interest in securing the TV broadcast rights from that point forward. One of those companies is Fox, which has expressed an interest in not just securing the TV broadcast rights but also in buying out the WWE as a whole. With that said, it should be mentioned that this interest is conditional in nature, meaning that it won’t happen unless Fox fails to secure a renewal of its current deal with the UFC. However, seeing as how there is a significant difference between what Fox is willing to offer and the UFC is willing to accept at the moment, said outcome is a lot likelier than it sounds on initial consideration.
What Are the Potential Implications of a WWE Buyout?
There are a number of interesting implications from a WWE buyout. For example, it will be interesting to see what time blocks on Fox will be filled by what programming from the WWE. Some people have speculated that WWE Raw will be broadcast on Fox itself, which would be a first for that particular offering. Meanwhile, it seems probable that the rest of WWE’s offerings will be broadcast on the rest of Fox’s channels, filling up the time blocks vacated by the theoretical end of the UFC’s deal with Fox.
Speaking of which, the current deal-making is interesting because it suggests that the recent talks of how the UFC was supplanting the WWE were more than a little bit premature. After all, the current reports are that Fox is planning to offer $400 million for the TV broadcast rights for the WWE, which is amusing because there are reports that the UFC wanted $450 million for a renewal of their broadcast rights. Unfortunately, Fox does not seem to have been that interested in the UFC’s programming, as shown by the fact that the reports claim that it was willing to offer no more than $200 million. Something that would be a significant step-up compared to the current deal, which started out at $120 million per year but moved up to $160 million per year in the final year of the deal, but nonetheless falls far short of the UFC’s expectations. Of course, other parties have shown an interest in the UFC’s broadcast rights as well, which it remains to be seen whether that interest will be $450 million a year interest or not.
On a final note, even if Fox agrees to do business with the WWE, it remains to be seen whether it will walk away with just the TV broadcast rights or whether it will walk away with the entire company as well. At this point in time, there are not a lot of signs that Vince McMahon is willing to sell his stake in the WWE. However, some people think that his sale of more than 3 million shares back in December of 2017 is a sign of potential interest, though one should not read too much into this because McMahon still holds more than 80 percent of the voting power in spite of the sale.
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