WWE held their first quarter 2018 conference call earlier today. Michael Weiss welcomed everyone to the call and noted that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, as well as WWE co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were on the line.

Vince McMahon welcomed everyone and said that the numbers in their first quarter earnings speak for themselves and said that they had a strong financial performance, therefore they are raising their guidance for the year. Vince said that RAW and SmackDown helped no doubt to support USA in becoming the most-watched ad-supported cable network, while their digital video views were up 56% and now stand at 6.7 billion views. Vince said that WWE are the number one sports channel on YouTube and that they even broke their own records the day after WrestleMania 34, putting over how they nailed a new Superdome event record and also put over the new relationship deal in Saudi Arabia, noting that everything is looking pretty good.

George Barrios recapped the earnings, while Michelle Wilson put over the addition of new subscriptions to the WWE Network, as well as the new programming that has been added and programming that will be coming. Wilson plugged the third season of Total Bellas coming and put over the RAW 25th Anniversary. Barrios noted that they had a 30% increase in advertising, in part due to advertisements on YouTube, as well as renewed deals with Mars, Cricket Wireless, Rocket League and more. Michelle Wilson put over the Greatest Royal Rumble event, noting that it was the most successful international event in the history of the company and the start of a relationship between WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Barrios noted that they had 7 million mobile game installs as of now, live event revenue was down from this time last year, due to international events not happening in the same quarter and the Royal Rumble being held in a 20,000 seat arena versus a dome the year prior, therefore they sold less tickets. Barrios said that they are projecting a raise in revenue for the second quarter due to new rights fees and higher fees for existing deals and predicted an 8% increase in WWE Network subscribers from this time last year for the second quarter. The lines were then opened for the question and answer session.

The first caller asked about how undervalued they see their television rights during the current deal and in what ways do they see themselves positioned to receive fair value this year versus the last deal. Barrios said that they intend to announce plans for RAW and SmackDown in the United States between now and September of this year, but that beyond that, they are not going to comment further. The next question asked about what has driven their advertiser growth and whether that could be sustained. Barrios noted that the growth is driven by their integrated partnership agreements and that they bring something unique to the market in that they can bring brands and promote them across WWE’s different platforms and events and that they can create unique content and integrate their brand into the WWE world, such as they do with KFC. Barrios said that they have seen renewals coming in and they feel confident, noting that being able to monetize on YouTube will be a big thing for them going forward as well.

The next caller asked if they can talk about the Quarter Two revenue raises and if they are related to differences in how they are recognizing revenue and shifting things. Barrios noted that a big part of it has to deal with Saudi Arabia and that deal, but they are not going to get into specifics on that at the moment and said that the changes that they implemented will really be seen in the fourth quarter. Barrios said that they are still figuring out what they are going to do in regards to how many events in Saudi Arabia, but said that he had chills when he saw the Greatest Royal Rumble event on the WWE Network. Barrios noted that they are working on locking in the television deals in the United States and that Indian and the United Kingdom are also coming up. The same caller asked about how WWE Mixed Match Challenge performed versus their original expectations and whether there would be similar deals with digital platforms going forward. Barrios said that they feel that the digital views are extremely important and said that if he can talk about Saudi Arabia again, it should be noted that the country is the highest per capita user of YouTube in the world and said that ties into their digital video success. Barrios reiterated that WWE Greatest Royal Rumble and the relationship with Saudi Arabia will be reflected in the second quarter and in their EBITA, but that they will not be commenting on how well it did overall before that release.

The next caller asked about the company selling their own ads on YouTube. Barrios said that they have access to the inventory of ad packages and that they add value of their integration with advertisers. The same caller asked if they would be part of the USA Network Upfronts Presentation. Michelle Wilson said that they did not want to steal the USA Network’s thunder, but that they would be there on May 14th, with Stephanie McMahon leading the charge on stage, with several WWE talents appearing. Barrios chimed in and said that they have lots of data now on fans and have a better understanding on what their consumers love and don’t love and that is part of every discussion now, whereas 5 years ago, they did not have access to that knowledge. The same caller asked how the rate of the WWE Network subscriptions were mixed between domestic and international, to which Barrios noted was not fundamentally different from the past.

The next caller asked about the timing of announcing the new television deal and who they are speaking with. Barrios said that they did not want to comment on that, but said that the US, India and UK deals will be figured out before any of the big corporate purchases and mergers in the media industry are completed and that they do not believe that any of that will effect their new deals. The same caller asked about the television ratings in the United States versus India and the UK. Barrios said that they are not public with that data, except for the United States, but that in India, they are one of the largest consumed sports programming and the biggest American sport.

The next caller asked about the potential pricing tier for the WWE Network as they go forward, to which Barrios noted that the highest-tiered level would effectively be content and benefits for the user. Barrios said that the tiering would be a subset of everything they do across the different platforms and that they still effectively need to figure out what fits where before they make any sort of announcement down the line. Barrios said that they have a chance to create lots of content across all genres and said that they have a free tier now on the WWE website where you can watch content for free and said that they feel that helps feed into the subscription service. The same caller asked about female performers not working the Greatest Royal Rumble, while the company are pushing female empowerment. Michelle Wilson stepped in and said that the company are respectful of the culture there, but are also hopeful to be part of the change and said that they are proud of their female performers and have rebranded them as female superstars. Wilson said that the company believes in them, but in certain countries, they also have to respect the culture. Wilson put over the Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss match in the United Arab Emirates and said that they have to be respectful of the cultures that they go to, but said that there are male and female fans there and they want to appeal to everyone. Wilson said that they have a ten-year relationship in Saudi Arabia and are hopeful of being part of the social changes that can take place in the years to come and look forward to that.