Is WWE Being Sold?

By Connor Casey

WWE potentially selling itself to a larger media company has been a lingering question for the past few years. And while WWE officials have repeatedly brushed off the notion that they're in any active negotiations, the speculation has ramped up ever since Vince McMahon's sudden departure from the company back in July. The wrestling promotion is currently overseen by Co-CEOs Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, with Paul "Triple H" Levesque booking its television product as its Chief Content Officer. 

Khan once again addressed the speculation early in 2022, talking with The Sports Business Journal's John Ourand in January. Ourand wrote at the time, "Khan said the company has taken some inbound calls from companies looking to buy. But he stressed that WWE is not in active conversations trying to sell the company and is not actively looking to sell." But the story does not end there. Check out the latest updates on the situation below!

July 26, 2022 — Vince McMahon's Departure

Vince McMahon announced his retirement from all of his WWE positions on July 22, 2022. In the days that followed, there was speculation that his departure could expedite a sale. But CNBC's Alex Sherman wrote at the time that there were no active sale talks and that WWE declined to comment on the matter

"We suspect the Street will interpret Mr. McMahon's retirement as a precursor to an eventual sale of WWE," Citi analyst Jason Bazinet said at the time. "We're not sure that is a reasonable conclusion since WWE will still be a controlled company with 100% of the Class B shares held by the McMahon family."

Oct. 17, 2022 — Record-High Stocks

While experts initially expected WWE's business to be hurt by McMahon leaving, it turned out the opposite was true. By mid-October, the company stock was up more than 50% the previous year and was doing its best numbers since the summer before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CNBC reported at the time that a sale could potentially come before the next round of television rights were renewed. WWE's deals with both NBCUniversal (airing Raw on Mondays and NXT on Tuesdays on the USA Network) and FOX (airing SmackDown on Friday nights on its main network channel) expire in 2024 and negotiations are expected to begin next year.

Oct. 18, 2022 — Would The Rock Run WWE?

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson spoke with BNN Bloomberg while promoting Black Adam and was asked both about the potential of a WWE sale and his possible role in it. Johnson has a well-documented friendship with Nick Khan and admitted discussions of him taking an executive role within WWE have taken place.

"[WWE co-CEO] Nick [Khan] and I have talked about that, and we always enjoy that over a bottle of Teremana," Johnson said. "I love the wrestling business. I grew up in it. My grandfather [and] my dad started here in Canada, where [his father] was born. So, I'm not quite too sure if a board seat is in my future, but possibly other things are in my future, for sure."

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