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UFC and WWE Combine to Create $21.4B Entertainment Company

A WrestleMania sign hangs over the crowd during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
A WrestleMania sign hangs over the crowd during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
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UFC and WWE Combine to Create $21.4B Entertainment Company

A WrestleMania sign hangs over the crowd during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
A WrestleMania sign hangs over the crowd during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. (AP)

WWE and the company that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship will combine to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company.

A new publicly traded company will be formed that houses the UFC and WWE brands, with Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. taking a 51% controlling interest in the new company. Existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49% stake.

The companies put the enterprise value of UFC at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3 billion.

The new business will be led by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. Vince McMahon, executive chairman at WWE, will serve in the same role at the new company.

The announcement comes after Vince McMahon, the founder and majority shareholder of WWE, returned to the company in January and said that it could be up for sale.

Rumors swirled about who would possibly be interested in buying WWE, with chatter focusing on companies such as Endeavor, Disney, Fox, Comcast, Amazon and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Industry experts had viewed WWE as an attractive acquisition target given its global reach and loyal fanbase, which includes everyone from minors to seniors and a wide range of incomes.

The company held its marquee event, WrestleMania, over the weekend. Last year, WWE booked revenue of $1.3 billion.

The company is also a social media powerhouse. It surpassed 16 billion social video views in the final quarter of last year. It has nearly 94 million YouTube subscribers and has more than 20 million followers on TikTok. Its female wrestlers comprise five out of the top 15 most followed female athletes in the world, across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, led by Ronda Rousey with 36.1 million followers.

WWE had more than 7.5 billion digital and social media views in January and February of this year, up 15% from the same time frame a year ago.

Shares of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut, slumped 4% before the opening bell Monday. Shares of Endeavor, based in Beverly Hills, California, rose 3%.

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Entertainment

Spotify Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Shows

FILE PHOTO: Headphones are seen in front of a logo of online music streaming service Spotify, February 18, 2014 REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Headphones are seen in front of a logo of online music streaming service Spotify, February 18, 2014 REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
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Spotify Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Shows

FILE PHOTO: Headphones are seen in front of a logo of online music streaming service Spotify, February 18, 2014 REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Headphones are seen in front of a logo of online music streaming service Spotify, February 18, 2014 REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

Music streaming platform Spotify was down for thousands of users on Monday, according to Downdetector.com.

There were more than 30,000 reports of issues with the platform in the US as of 09:22 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources, Reuters reported.

Outages were reported in Canada with more than 2,900 reports at 9:22 a.m. ET; UK had more than 8,800 app issues as of 9:22 a.m. ET.

Spotify did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The actual number of affected users may differ from what's shown because these reports are user-submitted.

Entertainment

Netflix Says its Position on Deal with Warner Bros Discovery Unchanged

FILE PHOTO: A Netflix logo is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Netflix logo is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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Netflix Says its Position on Deal with Warner Bros Discovery Unchanged

FILE PHOTO: A Netflix logo is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Netflix logo is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Netflix's decision to acquire assets from Warner Bros Discovery has not changed and the hostile bid from Paramount Skydance was "entirely expected", its co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos said in a letter to employees on Monday, Reuters reported.

The streaming giant is committed to theatrical releases of Warner Bros' movies, saying it is "an important part of their business and legacy".

"We haven't prioritized theatrical in the past because that wasn't our business at Netflix. When this deal closes, we will be in that business," the letter stated.

Netflix said its deal is "solid" and it is confident that it is great for consumers and can pass regulatory hurdles.

Entertainment

35 Countries to Compete in Next Year’s Eurovision After 5 Countries Announce Boycott over Israel 

Nemo of Switzerland celebrates holding the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP)
Nemo of Switzerland celebrates holding the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP)
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35 Countries to Compete in Next Year’s Eurovision After 5 Countries Announce Boycott over Israel 

Nemo of Switzerland celebrates holding the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP)
Nemo of Switzerland celebrates holding the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP)

Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest on Monday announced a final list of 35 countries that will take part in the glitzy pop-music gala next year, after five countries said they would boycott due to discord over Israel’s participation.

Contest organizers announced the list for the 2026 finale, set to be held in Vienna in May, after five participants — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain — earlier this month announced plans to sit it out.

A total of 37 countries took part this year, when Austria's JJ won. Three countries — Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania — will return, after skipping the event for artistic or financial reasons in recent years.

The walkout by some of the contest's most stalwart and high-profile participants — Ireland shared the record of wins with Sweden — put political discord on center stage and has overshadowed the joyful, feel-good nature of the event.

Last week, the 2024 winner — singer Nemo of Switzerland. who won with the pop-operatic ode “The Code.”— announced plans to return the winner’s trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete.

Organizers this month decided to allow Israel to compete, despite protests about its conduct of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of its contestants.

The European Broadcasting Union, a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the glitzy annual event, had sought to dispel concerns about vote-rigging, but the reforms announced weren't enough to satisfy the holdouts.

The musical extravaganza draws more than 100 million viewers every year — one of the world's most-watched programs — but has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.

Experts say the boycott ahead of the event's 70th anniversary amounts to one of the biggest crises the contest has faced, at a time when many public broadcasters face funding pressures and social media has lured away some eyeballs.

Israeli officials have hailed the decision by most EBU member broadcasters who supported its right to participate and warned of a threat to freedom of expression by embroiling musicians in a political issue.