Outside Source
TKO Group Holdings — the combined company with UFC and WWE — posted another strong quarter to close out 2024 along with a great year overall despite agreeing to pay $375 million to settle one of the two antitrust lawsuits filed against the UFC.
In a financial disclosure published on Wednesday, TKO reported revenue of $642.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and overall revenue of $2.804 billion for the year. Net income for the fourth quarter was $47.5 million with a net income of $6.4 million for the year.
The fourth quarter results increased five percent year over year with the majority owed to continued growth at UFC with an additional $61.1 million of revenue to $343.8 million, which helped offset a decrease of $32.9 million at WWE. The decrease at WWE was primarily due to the timing of the transition of the company’s flagship show Monday Night Raw going from USA Network to Netflix.
Those numbers are expected to dramatically shift moving forward after WWE inked a massive 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix that kicked off in January.
For the full year, revenue at TKO increased 67 percent to $2.804 billion, which was reflected by an increase of $1.015 billion at WWE and an increase of $114 million at UFC.
The net income for the year was $6.4 million, which is a decrease of $169.3 million from the previous year. The decrease was largely affected by the $375 million paid to settle the UFC antitrust lawsuit.
In the financial disclosure, TKO noted that the company made an initial $125 million payment along with a second $125 million payment towards that settlement made in February. The third and final payment of $125 million is expected to be made in the second quarter of 2025.
With 2024 done, TKO is poised for a massive year in 2025 with a pair of very lucrative broadcast deals coming up for the company.
At UFC, the promotion’s deal with ESPN comes to an end in 2025 with the company currently in an exclusive negotiating window with the Disney-owned network about potentially extending the deal. The exclusive window closes in April, which then opens up the bidding for other potential suitors with rumors swirling that numerous networks and streaming services could get involved with the UFC reportedly seeking more than $1 billion per year as part of a new broadcast deal.
While probably not quite as sizable, the WWE also has an important year ahead with the rights to the company’s premium live events — cards like WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble — coming up for bidding with the existing deal currently at Peacock.
TKO revealed targeted revenue for 2025 at $2.930 billion to $3 billion.
“TKO delivered record financial performance in 2024 at both UFC and WWE, reflecting the strength of our [intellectual property], the dynamic audiences we serve, and the industry-best team of people we’ve assembled,” TKO CEO and executive chairman Ari Emanuel said in a press release.
“In the year ahead, we will be focused on securing long-term U.S. domestic media rights agreements for UFC as well as WWE’s Premium Live Events; integrating IMG, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders into our portfolio; creating even more compelling live events; and executing our robust capital return program for shareholders.”
TKO stock has continued to grow with trading up 2.26 percent on Wednesday with shares at $159.55 currently
This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
