As rumors and reports continue to surface regarding WWE‘s media rights negotiation and a potential sale, WWE CEO Nick Khan spoke to Sports Business Journal about the company’s position heading into negotiations.
On the topic of the company and its position as it heads into a new round of media rights negotiations, Khan said that he thinks the company is “in a good position” thanks to its ratings and its relevance, Khan also noted that he thinks they could come to a decision toward the middle of the year.
“If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we’re in a good position,” said Khan. “We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter.”
When it comes to competing against the likes of NASCAR and the NBA — which will also see its own media rights come up alongside WWE — Khan said that he thinks “there’s plenty of money out there for us.” He also touched on the potential sale of WWE, noting that it might be tricky navigating both a sale of the company as well as new media rights negotiations.
“That’s probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that,” Khan said.
Triple H recently commented on a potential sale of WWE. Check out his comments here.
