How Much Money Did WWE Make In 2018?

It’s all about the money. In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the highlights of the 2018 financial report were shared, including profits, revenues, and other facts and figures.

Here are some highlights from the report:

*The company grossed $930,160,000 and turned a $98,719,000 profit in 2018, both company records. Last year the company set a revenue record of $800,959,000 and turned a $32,116,000 profit. The keys to the increase are larger TV rights, the deals for major shows in Saudi Arabia and Australia where local governments paid a premium, and the benefits of lower taxes due to the benefit the richest taxation law changes.

The company only paid $6,449,000 in taxes this past year as compared to $31,420 last year. The hidden part is that for all the profit they made, they paid $7,191,000 in taxes to foreign governments in 2018, $81,000 in U.S. federal taxes and $235,000 in state taxes in the U.S. They also got a deferred U.S. tax refund of $1,774,000. When all was said and done, the company actually received back $742,000 more than they were taxed for the year that they made nearly $99 million in profits.

Next year, with the new TV deals kicking in during the fall, the company will gross more than $1 billion and profits should increase significantly. By 2020, they should be grossing $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion and breaking records. Since the stock price is based on expected profits circa 2020, they are looking for around $344 million in profits by that time.

*The company has authorized a $500 million stock buyback program, which essentially is done to lower the number of shares and increasing the value of those shares. This led to a stock price increase to $88.22 per share based partially on the idea of that much purchasing money coming in will make shares more valuable.

*Actual WWE Network and PPV revenue was up 4.6 percent to $199,318,000. *Television rights fees worldwide increased from $244,247,000 to $269,793,000. There will be a huge increase over the next two years in that category.

*Advertising and sponsorship revenue increased from $51,838,000 in 2017 to $69,529,000 in 2018.

*The “other” category went from $48,858,000 to $144,751,000. The $95,893,000 in new revenue is a combination of what the company was paid for the two Saudi Arabia and one Australia shows and other international sold shows, as well as increased rights fees for reality shows, movie releases, home video releases and other things.

*As far as division profits outside of television, live events profits went from $24.7 million in 2017 to $16.6 million in 2018. Consumer products profits went from $34.8 million in 2017 to $23.4 million in 2018.

*Worldwide live attendance fell from 2,170,200 to 1,950,700. Including Mania, the 2017 North American average was 5,600 tickets sold, $328,608 in ticket revenue and $56,896 in merchandise sales. In 2018, it was 5,200 tickets sold, $314,756 in ticket revenue and $50,960 in merchandise sales. Outside the U.S. the numbers in 2017 were 5,200 tickets sold for $404,716. In 2018 it was 6,200 tickets sold for $464,194. But that is misleading because they cut back from 70 overseas shows to 56, meaning they cut out 14 small arena shows that would have taken down the average.

*Web merchandise sales declined from 818,600 orders for $37,500,066 last year to 736,800 orders $32,352,888, a decline of 13.7 percent.

*Vince McMahon blamed both the ratings and attendance declines on all the talent injuries in the fourth quarter. But there are always plenty of injuries and always will be. Plus, unless it’s done with an injury angle, the vast majority of fans aren’t even aware of the injuries and injured people are often still advertised for the live shows.

*The company lost $156,000 for the year in its ownership of the Tapout clothing brand.

*The company lost $3,773,000 in an investment in a mobile video business.

*They made an investment of $998,000 this past year in an e-sports company.

This storyline is one of the many reasons why WWE is making money:

Charlotte Flair replaces Becky Lynch in anticipated WrestleMania match: Raw, Feb. 11, 2019

What are your thoughts on WWE’s profits for 2018? Did they make the money that you thought that they would? Leave us a comment below, or post a comment on our Facebook page! Also, be sure to sign up for our newsletter and download our App from your favorite App Store!

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