Vince McMahon and WWE Execs Talk WWE Earnings, The Mae Young Classic, Big Digital Video Numbers, Raw & Smackdown, China and More

July 27, 2017

WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz are hosting a Second Quarter 2017 WWE earnings call today and below is live coverage of the call.

Earlier today, the full quarter 2 WWE earnings results were released, along with the updated WWE Network subscriber count, and you can read that at this link.

Vince McMahon joins the call and touts several WWE numbers, including live event revenue, WWE Network revenue and the current subscriber count.

Vince then talks about The Mae Young Classic, which is being spearheaded by Triple H, and Vince notes the classic is vital to WWE’s overall programming, and provides the company with the opportunity to bring up new, female talent.

Vince then says when looking at overall interest in the WWE product, one thing he pays attention to is digital video views, and he then touts the 9.1 total digital video views in the second quarter of the year, something he called “extraordinary.” Vince then plugged social media numbers, along with global sponsorship and blue-chip sponsors like KFC, Nestle, AT&T. Vince also said their strategy in China is looking good, and he plugged the live event being held in China in September.

Michelle Wilson then takes over the call, and touts the Mae Young Classic and the success of the recent WWE UK Title tournament.

Wilson touted the 750,000 subscribers that The Bella Twins’ YouTube channel added in the quarter, and revealed the company has a Snapchat series launching with NBCU later this year. Wilson then turns the call over to George Barrios to take questions from investors.

Of note during the Q&A, was Barrios revealing WWE’s biggest revenue streams come from Raw and Smackdown. Barrios touted the new show in India, and said it’s their most watch hourly show. He added a similar idea is being done in The Middle East. Barrios then said the company is in the early stages of monetizing China.

Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.

Nick attended New York University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Drama.

Nick first entered the internet wrestling community back in 2004 when he became the co-host of The Voice of Wrestling Radio Show. From there, Nick made the transition from radio personality to editor when he began working with WrestleZone in 2008.

Nick is a member of two Off-Broadway theatre companies, Another Urban Riff, and the Drama Desk Award winning Godlight Theatre Company. Nick has appeared in over a dozen Off-Broadway plays since he moved to New York City, and has shot several short and feature length films. In 2010, he completed principle photography on a film titled "How to Score Your Life," which also features TNA Knockout ODB.

Inspiration in his life has come from many people including his family, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, The Beatles, and of course, Lassie.