Vince McMahon retired from WWE this past July after the former CEO had paid out nearly $20 million in previously unrecorded expenses, almost $15 million of which were hush money for the sexual misconduct allegations he received from four women over the past 16 years and $5 million to former United States President Donald Trump’s now-defunct foundation through donations in 2007 and 2009. Vince McMahon has since stepped down from his duties as the company’s CEO, Chairman and Head of Creative with Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon being named as co-CEOs and Triple H being named as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, the Chief Content Officer and the Head of Creative.
The former WWE CEO and Chairman recently returned to the company and was reinstated on WWE’s Board of Directors and there has been a lot of speculation since what else Vince will be doing now that he has made his way back to WWE aside from helping secure new TV rights deals for RAW and SmackDown and also look for potential bidders interested in buying the company. WWE has since hired JPMorgan to help the company advise on a potential sale and it was reported that the company’s TV deals with NBC Universal and FOX expire in September of 2024.
Dave Meltzer noted on a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio Program that the WWE wants the sale of the company to be completed by the middle of this year prior to talks with networks about the company’s new TV deal as the new TV deal wouldn’t go into effect until October 2024 and probably will not be negotiated until the end of this year. Meltzer also noted that there is a possibility that the new television deal will not be negotiated until the start of next year and it could already be under new ownership at the time.
This is what Dave Meltzer said:
“Now, the idea is that they’re looking to sell before the TV deal.”
“There’s a lot to go through. They were looking to sell by the middle of this year, and the new TV deal wouldn’t be going into effect until October 2024 and probably not be negotiated until the end of this year, most likely. It could be the beginning of next year as well, most likely before the end of this year, so it could be under new ownership.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for transcribing the quotes.
