WWE has reported record full year results for 2022, highlighting an 18% increase in revenue to $1.3b – the highest in the company’s history.
WWE’s Clash At The Castle at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last September.
Outlining the financial results for the year ended 31st December 2022, along with its fourth quarter results, WWE also reported that its operating income had increased +11% to a record $283.3m, while adjusted OIBDA rose +19% to a record $384.6m.
The company also expects to generate an all-time record for revenue in 2023.
“2022 was another strong year for WWE,” said Nick Khan, WWE chief executive officer. “We generated record financial results and our business continued to perform well due to the strength of our content and brand, which drove audience engagement and monetisation across multiple platforms.”
“In 2023, we’re focused on continuing to execute on our key operational initiatives, such as the domestic licensing of our flagship programmes, Raw and SmackDown, as well as the international licensing of our content in key markets. At the same time, we’re focused on the review of strategic alternatives that we announced earlier this year, with the goal of maximising value for all shareholders.”
Frank Riddick, WWE president and chief financial officer, commented: “For the year, we achieved record revenue and adjusted OIBDA, which was at the very high end of our upwardly revised guidance range. In 2022, adjusted OIBDA increased +19% reflecting +18% revenue growth. Our financial performance was primarily driven by the return to a full year of ticketed live events, including the staging of two large-scale international events, as well as the contractual escalation of rights fees for our flagship weekly programming and premium live events.
He added: “In 2023, we anticipate adjusted OIBDA of $395 to $410m, reflecting continued revenue growth and relatively flat operating expenses.”
In the fourth quarter, Crown Jewel was the most viewed international event in WWE’s history. Domestic unique viewership on Peacock increased +70% over the prior year event
Each WWE domestic premium live event (Extreme Rules and Survivor Series) was the most viewed event in its history with year-on-year increases of +36% and +46%, respectively, in domestic unique viewership
In January 2023, WWE held Royal Rumble at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The event was the most viewed Royal Rumble in WWE’s history, with a +52% year-on-year increase in domestic unique viewership, and generated the highest gate in the event’s history.
Following last September’s hugely successful Clash At The Castle in Cardiff – the first major WWE stadium show to be held in the UK since 1992 – WWE announced in January that the The O2 in London will host Money In The Bank on Saturday 1st July, 2023, the first WWE Premium Live Event to be held in London in over two decades.
