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Let the body-slam gags begin: World Wrestling Entertainment, the company that brings muscle-bound entertainers to televisions and arenas, got nailed Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of the entertainment company fell as investors worried about its new TV deal and prospects for its monthly subscription service.
The count: down $8.66 to $11.27.
WWE's TV deal is with NBC Universal, but investors responded with a shrug. Even Vince McMahon couldn't convince money men the accord would record increased earnings.
The pact announced Thursday will continue WWE's Monday Night Raw on USA Network. Friday Night Smackdown will air on SyFy Network. Both cable/satellite channels are under the Peacock's wings.
The biggest loser on Friday was McMahon, WWE's chairman and CEO. According to Forbes, McMahon lost $357 million, nearly a third of his fortune, in 24 hours.
Here's the problem: Analysts expected a bigger contract. While the pact brings a 70 percent increase in rights fees, WWE had put expectations on steroids. Observers excepted fees would increase two or maybe three times.
WWE's albatross, it appears, is the WWE Network, an online operation launched in February. That enterprise is expected to cost between $42 million and $52 million this year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Here's the worst of it for McMahon: Investors are calling for management changes, according to Wrestling Observer, an industry publication.
Another negative? WWE isn't a lucrative ad generator, according to The Motley Fool website. Its rates don't match other sports.
"WWE viewers skew toward less attractive demographics," Wrestling Observer's Ben Miller told the Fool. Its "audience fails to spill over into other USA Network shows and, frankly, the networks may have been eager to send a message in response to escalating rights fees."
That message, not word that he is no longer a billionaire, should be the most troubling to McMahon.
Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/s...es-357-million
Shares of the entertainment company fell as investors worried about its new TV deal and prospects for its monthly subscription service.
The count: down $8.66 to $11.27.
WWE's TV deal is with NBC Universal, but investors responded with a shrug. Even Vince McMahon couldn't convince money men the accord would record increased earnings.
The pact announced Thursday will continue WWE's Monday Night Raw on USA Network. Friday Night Smackdown will air on SyFy Network. Both cable/satellite channels are under the Peacock's wings.
The biggest loser on Friday was McMahon, WWE's chairman and CEO. According to Forbes, McMahon lost $357 million, nearly a third of his fortune, in 24 hours.
Here's the problem: Analysts expected a bigger contract. While the pact brings a 70 percent increase in rights fees, WWE had put expectations on steroids. Observers excepted fees would increase two or maybe three times.
WWE's albatross, it appears, is the WWE Network, an online operation launched in February. That enterprise is expected to cost between $42 million and $52 million this year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Here's the worst of it for McMahon: Investors are calling for management changes, according to Wrestling Observer, an industry publication.
Another negative? WWE isn't a lucrative ad generator, according to The Motley Fool website. Its rates don't match other sports.
"WWE viewers skew toward less attractive demographics," Wrestling Observer's Ben Miller told the Fool. Its "audience fails to spill over into other USA Network shows and, frankly, the networks may have been eager to send a message in response to escalating rights fees."
That message, not word that he is no longer a billionaire, should be the most troubling to McMahon.
Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/s...es-357-million
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