WWE is set to have a strong presence at Monday's NBCUniversal and Fox upfront presentations.
This will be the first time since 2019 that the presentations have been held in person WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and The Miz are both slated to speak at the NBCU’s presentation. At Fox’s event, Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Charlotte Flair will be in attendance.
The event will see WWE tout its strong quarterly financial report which was released earlier this month. For a detailed breakdown of all the stats and figures, click here.
Speaking with Deadline, Stephanie McMahon detailed the distinct advantages WWE has over other sports.
“It’s like athletic theater. It’s the story, that’s why you care …. You’re swept up in the storylines. We can script the buzzer-beater moments, we can script the Hail Marys. We have a leg up on sports. … You may object to what we do, but you’re never going to be bored," she said.
She would continue on to discuss WWE's status as a hybrid product and how it allows them to more naturally pull off integrations, citing their work with Netflix and Army of the Dead.
“Whenever you watch a game, it’s too cluttered,” she said of general sports broadcasts. “WWE is able to delver differently.”
"Unlike pro sports leagues, WWE is structured in a way that favors streamlined dealmaking with sponsors," McMahon said. With no additional parties needing to sign off on the deal, WWE provides a “one-stop shop” available for creative executions. “We own all of the IP,” she said. “When brands deal with us, they just deal with us. We create something together," she said.
In 2019, SmackDown signed a five-year deal with Fox reportedly worth more than $1 billion, while Raw re-upped at USA. The deals represented a nearly fourfold increase in rights fees compared with the prior contract, according to WWE.
Fightful will monitor and provide any news that comes from the upfront presentations.