Nick Khan: We’ve taken calls to sell but we’re not selling

[eJm]

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/Insiders/Sports-media.aspx

The interview itself is the usual high praise business nonsense you’re expecting from these sorts of things but the quote, which was a paragraph, basically says it all; there is potential to sell even if he’s not going to say there is.

Or they really aren’t going to sell and they fired a bunch of people for no reason. Your call!

[polarbearpete]

Jan 26, 2022 7:10:40 GMT -5 eJm said:

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/Insiders/Sports-media.aspx

The interview itself is the usual high praise business nonsense you’re expecting from these sorts of things but the quote, which was a paragraph, basically says it all; there is potential to sell even if he’s not going to say there is.

Or they really aren’t going to sell and they fired a bunch of people for no reason. Your call!

It’s hard to tell without Khan’s direct quote. The paragraph summarizing says that the company has taken inbound calls from companies looking to buy, but is not in active conversations to sell and is not actively looking to sell.

I do recall Freddie Prinze saying recently that he talked to someone at FOX who said during TV negotiations, WWE made an offer to sell the company to FOX but it was way too high. Take that for what it’s worth.

[eJm]

Jan 26, 2022 7:20:41 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Jan 26, 2022 7:10:40 GMT -5 eJm said:

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/Insiders/Sports-media.aspx

The interview itself is the usual high praise business nonsense you’re expecting from these sorts of things but the quote, which was a paragraph, basically says it all; there is potential to sell even if he’s not going to say there is.

Or they really aren’t going to sell and they fired a bunch of people for no reason. Your call!

It’s hard to tell without Khan’s direct quote. The paragraph summarizing says that the company has taken inbound calls from companies looking to buy, but is not in active conversations to sell and is not actively looking to sell.

I do recall Freddie Prinze saying recently that he talked to someone at FOX who said during TV negotiations, WWE made an offer to sell the company to FOX but it was way too high. Take that for what it’s worth.

I mean, WWE’s logic was sound in a way. FOX was going after Smackdown because they just had an influx of cash in hand so they might as well had tried the gambit but I can imagine it being somewhere in the region of 10bn which, whilst not a lot, would have taken a chunk away from that which could go into other parts of the company that needed that cash.

FOX made the wiser choice because a) there’s a difference between owning the rights to show and owning the whole thing period and the costs and b) if Smackdown bombed on Fridays, then they could cut the losses at the end of the contract (or before if the clause was written in, which it likely is) and only had spent a small bit of money on it.

[nisidhe]

Jan 26, 2022 7:10:40 GMT -5 eJm said:

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/Insiders/Sports-media.aspx

The interview itself is the usual high praise business nonsense you’re expecting from these sorts of things but the quote, which was a paragraph, basically says it all; there is potential to sell even if he’s not going to say there is.

Or they really aren’t going to sell and they fired a bunch of people for no reason. Your call!

Cutting the roster doesn't become meaningless just because they're not actively looking to sell.

Don't forget, the largest stockholders of the company are the McMahons themselves. Yes, there are still a multitude of other shareholders with non-voting stock whose investments need to show a return, but should they sell, it will be Vince, Linda and Stephanie (to my knowledge, Shane holds no stock) who will garner the lion's share of the proceeds. The same man who'll tear up scripts and force rewrites while a show is going on may not have the stick-to-it-iveness to see through a sale to its conclusion. It's likely that such a sale won't happen until after Vince dies.

[eJm]

Jan 26, 2022 7:56:57 GMT -5 nisidhe said:

Jan 26, 2022 7:10:40 GMT -5 eJm said:

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/Insiders/Sports-media.aspx

The interview itself is the usual high praise business nonsense you’re expecting from these sorts of things but the quote, which was a paragraph, basically says it all; there is potential to sell even if he’s not going to say there is.

Or they really aren’t going to sell and they fired a bunch of people for no reason. Your call!

Cutting the roster doesn't become meaningless just because they're not actively looking to sell.

Don't forget, the largest stockholders of the company are the McMahons themselves. Yes, there are still a multitude of other shareholders with non-voting stock whose investments need to show a return, but should they sell, it will be Vince, Linda and Stephanie (to my knowledge, Shane holds no stock) who will garner the lion's share of the proceeds. The same man who'll tear up scripts and force rewrites while a show is going on may not have the stick-to-it-iveness to see through a sale to its conclusion. It's likely that such a sale won't happen until after Vince dies.

Ok, I’ll clarify.

No good reason.

[King Devitt]

When it does sell (when, not if) it's going to be wild to see something that always felt destined to be a family owned and run business for generations, being sold to the highest corporate bidder.

I kinda feel bad for Stephanie and Shane tbh. They're gonna watch it happen, powerless to do anything about it, b/c their father is a greedy moron.

[pinja]

How would FOX even calculate the financial potential of owning the WWE when a lot of it's current value is generated from deals with direct competition?

[Wieners=$$$]

Come on Disney🤞🤞

What?

Pixar/Disney presents "Steph," a tale about a wealthy child that found true love and one day got a boob job. Tagline: Not all princesses are poor or good.

[eJm]

Jan 26, 2022 9:41:29 GMT -5 pinja said:

How would FOX even calculate the financial potential of owning the WWE when a lot of it's current value is generated from deals with direct competition?

I guess considering all its programming now comes from competition besides sports and news, there was a barrier to start from?

[salz4life]

I just wonder if down the line, The Rock puts something together to buy if it was ever available. Supposedly he has a connection to Nick Khan.

[pinja]

Jan 26, 2022 9:51:47 GMT -5 eJm said:

Jan 26, 2022 9:41:29 GMT -5 pinja said:

How would FOX even calculate the financial potential of owning the WWE when a lot of it's current value is generated from deals with direct competition?

I guess considering all its programming now comes from competition besides sports and news, there was a barrier to start from?

Oh, things work like that? I always thought they either produce it themselves (for themselves) or buy it from production companies, no alternatives.

[eJm]

Jan 26, 2022 9:54:49 GMT -5 pinja said:

Jan 26, 2022 9:51:47 GMT -5 eJm said:

I guess considering all its programming now comes from competition besides sports and news, there was a barrier to start from?

Oh, things work like that? I always thought they either produce it themselves (for themselves) or buy it from production companies, no alternatives.

It really depends on how it goes and such. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was an NBC production that got picked up by FOX which was why when FOX axed it, NBC just took it back since they were funding it anyway.

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

Vince may be greedy, morally bankrupt at times (ok, a lot of the time.) and borderline insane but the company is like a child to Vince that he's fought to get to the point it is at currently through blood, sweat, tears, lawsuits (and possibily a metric f***tonne of cocaine in the 80's/90's.) with one of his granddaughters now training to be a wrestler in the company (and probably future part owner.) it's going to take an offer on a par with N.A.S.A's budget for him to seriously consider selling, the company making a big thing of it being a McMahon legacy comes from Vince and I dont see him wanting to change that.

I could be wrong and Vince is actively looking to offload the company to the highest bidder, but I just dont see the company selling up while Vince/Steph are still alive. But it's more likely that Vince will sell up to Steph & HHH like his father did to him.

[thehottag]

Seems odd they'd mention it at all, then? It sounds to me like saying "we're receiving offers" is advertising to potential buyers, & "we're not selling" means 'up your bid'.

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

Jan 26, 2022 9:08:45 GMT -5 King Devitt said:

I kinda feel bad for Stephanie and Shane tbh. They're gonna watch it happen, powerless to do anything about it, b/c their father is a greedy moron.

Steph and Shane are both worth over $100 million right now and will presumably inherit Vince’s even larger fortune when he passes. They’ll be ok.

[polarbearpete]

Jan 26, 2022 9:54:30 GMT -5 salz4life said:

I just wonder if down the line, The Rock puts something together to buy if it was ever available. Supposedly he has a connection to Nick Khan.

They’re childhood friends from Hawaii.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 26, 2022 9:58:39 GMT -5 eJm said:

Jan 26, 2022 9:54:49 GMT -5 pinja said:

Oh, things work like that? I always thought they either produce it themselves (for themselves) or buy it from production companies, no alternatives.

It really depends on how it goes and such. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was an NBC production that got picked up by FOX which was why when FOX axed it, NBC just took it back since they were funding it anyway.

And Last Man Standing was a Fox show picked up by ABC. And when they cancelled it because it didnt make them enough money (same reason Fox cancelled 99) Fox picked it back up. Not because it was too conservative Tim.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

I’m about 95% sure that Dana White was denying the UFC was for sale literally the day before the sale was announced, at the very least within the week before the sale was announced.

[Starshine]

I mean, if you're putting it out there that you're not interested in selling, people interested in buying will offer you more to help change your mind. I'm just saying.

Honestly, I don't know what their plan is. I'm not entirely sure the company itself has long term plans at the moment. I think Khan is just trying to fill out his resume and doesn't really have any plans staying for the long haul. Vince, I just think the guy has lost his damn mind.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 27, 2022 0:39:14 GMT -5 Starshine said:

I mean, if you're putting it out there that you're not interested in selling, people interested in buying will offer you more to help change your mind. I'm just saying.

Honestly, I don't know what their plan is. I'm not entirely sure the company itself has long term plans at the moment. I think Khan is just trying to fill out his resume and doesn't really have any plans staying for the long haul. Vince, I just think the guy has lost his damn mind.

Khan is just a hired gun doing his job to raise the companies stock and value. He could care less about the long term health of the company. Wall street only cares as far as next quarter.

Vince should care as it is his legacy. But I think now when he dies he wants the company be be worth as much as possible so his obit can say it was a 4 billion or whatever and wow wasnt he amazing. Then if it all falls apart from his short sighted decisions then his heirs or whoever takes over will get the blame.