MUMBAI: After what has been a long drawn negotiating process, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has renewed the media rights it holds to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which owns popular wrestling properties RAW and Smackdown, SportzPower can reveal.
SPN secured the WWE rights for the Indian subcontinent as a legacy property when it acquired the Ten Sports Network from Zee Group for Rs 26 billion in September 2016.
For the record, it was in 2014 that Ten Sports had renewed the WWE media rights it had long held for $137.5 million for five years. As a clause in the deal, Ten Sports (now Sony) had the first right of refusal for the highest rating international property in this market. The America headquartered, integrated media and entertainment company, had put a price tag of anywhere between $250-280 million on it when it began its renewal negotiations with SPN and with other potential media partners (read Star India).
While there was no official confirmation of the deal renewal from SPN made available to SportzPower till the time this report was published, this website can confirm that the negotiations on behalf of WWE were managed by IMG Media.
As for the deal size, industry sources said it was definitely north of $200 million but well below the $250-280 million that was initially being shopped around by WWE. SportzPower’s educated guess would be between $215 million and $225 million.
While the increase is significant in and off itself in dollar terms, it is in rupee terms that the increase has to be viewed. From the Rs 8.665 billion the renewal would have been worth at 2014 dollar-rupee exchange rates, it stands at Rs 15.25 billion EVEN IF the deal brokered by IMG Media closed at the lower end at $215 million.
It is worth noting here also that in the new rights agreements that WWE has signed with the Fox Network, and with Comcast-owned NBC renewing rights to Monday Night Raw, WWE’s US deals are now worth a combined $470 million per year.
These splashy new TV deals does not seem to have helped the share value of WWE in the US however. WWE stock has been a major loser on Wall Street this year, tumbling about 25%.
US media reported Thursday that WWE shares plunged more than 15% after the sports entertainment company reported sales that missed forecasts and lowered its profit outlook. The company attributed the weaker forecast to its inability to sign a new TV deal in the Middle East.
According to Fox News, the company’s inability to strike a deal in the Middle East is particularly troublesome because WWE has made a concerted effort to boost its presence in that market.
