WWE revealed the company’s 2018 third quarter financial results on Thursday morning, reporting a 12% overall growth over the prior year period in 2017.
A brief breakdown of the financials include:
* Revenues were $188.4 million and “a record $657.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, representing 12% growth over the prior year period.”
* Operating income saw a decrease to $18.1 million from $33.9 million last year, “reflecting the slight increase in revenue, which was more than offset by increased operating expenses, including increases in fixed costs, the timing of various business initiatives, and higher management incentive compensation based on anticipated strong full-year results as well as the rise in the Company’s stock price.”
* As reported earlier, WWE confirmed that the Crown Jewel event would be taking place next Friday (November 2) in Saudi Arabia as previously scheduled adding, “Considering the heinous crime committed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Company faced a very difficult decision as it relates to its event scheduled for November 2 in Riyadh.”
* WWE Network paid subscribers was touted as “more than 1.66 million.”
* Through the first nine months of 2018, digital engagement was up “61% to 22.9 billion and hours consumed up 81% to 842 million across digital and social media platforms.”
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon:
“During the quarter, we remained keenly focused on deepening engagement with our global fan base by delivering compelling original content across media platforms. We believe that deepening engagement will enable us to take advantage of favorable global industry trends and drive long-term growth.”
WWE Co-President George Barrios:
“We continue to effectively execute our strategy and achieved Adjusted OIBDA that surpassed our public guidance. Our performance maintains our path to achieve record revenue, record Adjusted OIBDA and record subscribers for the full year 2018.”
You can access the entire WWE financial report on the company’s corporate website.