According to TKO COO Mark Shapiro, WWE holding house shows every weekend on Saturday and Sunday nights may be a thing of the past. Much has changed in WWE since it was purchased by the Endeavor Group and merged with the UFC to form TKO.
WWE holds house shows, also known as live events, to connect with fans in local markets, gain experience for wrestlers, and plan future televised matches. Because of guaranteed TV rights deals, the days of WWE making the majority of its money off the gate are over, but they still play an important role in the business.
Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics noted that Shapiro spoke yesterday at the UBS media conference, where he stated that the company is looking to reduce the number of house shows.
To run these types of shows, Shapiro referred to it as “margin perspective,” which is corporate speak for them not making a profit for the company. WWE recently announced additional corporate layoffs.
“While there’s a reason to have them because it’s good for the brand, we’re building [an] audience, we’re putting them on in C and D counties, so we’re really stretching the brand, and we’re amassing a greater array of eyeballs from all demos so it’s good for our long-term growth. Through a margin perspective, they are dilutive. So there’s probably an opportunity as we go through our efficiencies and our synergy opportunities to cut back on some of those non-televised events, which will push our margin up so we are going through that exercise now.”
