WWE Sale: Major Potential Bidder Comments on Interest
When the news that Vince McMahon was returning to WWE to explore a sale of the company initially hit, a few companies immediately came to mind. Since that initial news broke there have been a number of developments on potential suitors, with buyers like Comcast, Saudi Arabia, and Amazon all seemingly in the mix. Another company that could be possibly in the mix is Endeavor, which is also the parent company of UFC. During their fourth-quarter earnings call, head of Endeavor Ari Emmanuel was asked about the possibility of purchasing WWE, and it seems he isn't looking to change their position with the company just yet (via PWInsider).
"As it relates to WWE, it's an unbelievable product," Emmanuel said. "Vince is an unbelievable...he's created a great business. We've had a long-standing relationship with them over two decades. We're doing, as I indicated the On Location business with them, The Endeavor Streaming with them. You know, his business is really valuable, but we're not going to do anything as it relates to changing our leverage position right now."
Right now of course is a key part of that answer, and is one that could easily allow for a change in direction if certain things fall into place. Everything about this sale is fluid it would seem, but as it stands at the moment, it doesn't seem Endeavor will be aggressively moving towards a purchase.
McMahon returned to his position as Executive Chairman and has reportedly been busy with work regarding a potential sale and other Board matters. Many were worried that once McMahon returned he would also return to running creative for WWE, and as of now, that doesn't seem to have happened.
In a previous interview with Variety, Triple H (Paul Levesque) was asked if he knew what McMahon was up to during his short-lived retirement. "F-k if I know," Levesque said. "I didn't know what he was up to every day when he was here! I'll be honest, I don't know what he's doing. I think he's keeping himself busy."
While McMahon is not currently in the creative mix, Levesque did say that he is following that same looking forward blueprint in how he approaches things. "[Vince was] always thinking long term. Whether it gets executed that way or whether it wasn't, I don't know," Levesque said. "But for me, it's how I think because it's how I was taught by him. I'm always trying to think about the long-term storyline. I was at SummerSlam and one of the first things I talked to the team about is 'Okay, where do we want to go for WrestleMania?'"
Who do you think will buy WWE? Let us know in the comments!