TKO is going after site fees.
During the TKO financials call on February 27, TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer confirmed that there was a site fee associated with Australia hosting WWE Elimination Chamber, and said site fees are a "key growth area" with UFC and WWE.
We believe TKO is well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds in both sports, media and entertainment. Live sports and sports entertainment remain important for both traditional linear platform providers as well as streamers and technology entrants. As a result, the value of media rights for unique assets, such as UFC and WWE, have appreciated consistently. We anticipate realizing growth in media rights content agreements upon contract renewals that materialize over the coming years, reflecting the increased value of our premium content to linear and streaming channels, as well as the broader trend of premium live sports and entertainment content rights generally increasing in value across renewal cycles. We believe we can generate more content in various formats to acquire and engage new and existing fans, generate license fees from distribution partners, and drive increased adoption of our direct-to-consumer offerings, UFC FIGHT PASS and WWE Network. TKO drives economic benefits to the cities that host WWE and UFC events, which we believe will lead to growth in site fees as jurisdictions vie to bring premium events to their market. For example, WrestleMania in April 2023 generated $215 million in economic impact for the Los Angeles region, UFC 290’s International Fight Week 2023 in Las Vegas generated over $99 million in economic impact in July 2023 and UFC 284 in Perth, Australia generated over $29 million in February 2023.
Live Events
We believe we can grow Live Events revenue by increasing ticket sales, expanding premium VIP offerings to drive higher per event revenues, and utilizing our IP to drive monetization across events. Compelling, live and original content is at the core of TKO, driving brand strength and fan engagement.
Through our partnership with Endeavor’s On Location business, which curates premium live event experiences, we plan to bring sports and lifestyle events even closer to consumers. Events such as UFC X, which include open workouts, interactive attendee experiences, meet and greets, concerts and parties, and athlete panels, are opportunities to drive growth in site fees as the sport continues to gain in popularity and attract a young and diverse fan base in large cities and countries throughout the world.
We have successfully held UFC events in more than 150 cities internationally, most recently in 2023, selling out arenas in Abu Dhabi, London, Perth, and Paris. 2023 was also a successful year for WWE internationally. We produced 23 international WWE events, including Money in the Bank in London, WWE Superstar Spectacle in India, and two events produced through our partnership with the General Entertainment Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Moreover, live events have the potential to drive significant economic output for host cities from new job creation, salaries and wages, taxes, and other economic activity. Consequently, as the popularity of TKO live events grows, we expect to have a greater ability to secure site fees from local governments or tourism organizations in certain jurisdictions.
Fans can find TKO financial results by clicking here.
