How Much Money Does WWE Make Compared to Previous Years?

Here is an interesting breakdown of WWE’s finances, according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.

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Profits

Here is a breakdown of WWE’s profits in millions for each category in 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Category	2016	2015	2014
Live events (tickets & merch)	$51.6	$46.9	$35.5
PPV/Network	$43.0	$48.4	-$1.8
Television	$119.8	$97.0	$61.9
Licensing	$27.4	$28.8	$21.0
Home video	$5.3	$4.6	$15.0
Web (web/YouTube/shop)	$12.3	$9.5	$3.8
WWE Films	-$0.2	-$1.5	$0.5
Corporate expenses	-$178.7	-$172.1	-$151.4

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Notes

Here are a few notes of interest:

– 2016 was the highest revenue year in WWE history. However, their expenses have also gone up, so it is not as profitable as most of 1998-2010.

– In 2016, WWE generated $729,216,000 in revenue with $33,725,000 in profits. Both up from 2015, which saw $658,768,000 in revenue and $23,927,000 in profits.

– The $33.725 million in profits were still not enough to cover the annual dividend payment to shareholders, which was $37,218,720. 46.5% of that ($17,306,700) went to Vince McMahon. Because of this, WWE had to go into their cash reserves last year.

– Live event revenue was $144.4 million in 2016, up from $124.7 million in 2015.

– WWE shows (not including NXT) had an attendance of 2,101,000 people on 344 events in 2016.

– NXT event revenue was $6.98 million on 189 shows, with an average attendance of 995.

– Merchandise sold at live events brought in $24.2 million.

– WWE Shop brought in $34.6 million in revenue last year, averaging 2,108 orders per day.

– WWE spends around $1.1 million for each episode of Raw and Smackdown.

– WWE is the second biggest seller of action figures in the US, behind Star Wars.

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WWE Profits 1994-2016

Here is a yearly breakdown of WWE’s profit/loss history. Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Year	Total Revenue	Profit/Loss
1994-95	$87,352,00	-$4,431,000
1995-96	$85,815,000	$3,319,000
1996-97	$81,863,000	-$6,505,000
1997-98	$126,231,000	$8,446,000
1998-99	$251,474,000	$56,030,000
1999-00	$373,100,000	$68,973,000
2000-01	$456,043,000	$15,987,000
2001-02	$409,622,000	$42,233,000
2002-03	$374,364,000	-$19,455,000
2003-04	$374,909,000	$48,192,000
2004-05	$366,431,000	$39,147,000
2005-06	$400,051,000	$47,047,000
2006 (5/06 to 12/06)	$262,937,000	$31,617,000
2007	$485,655,000	$52,137,000
2008	$526,457,000	$45,416,000
2009	$471,161,000	$50,303,000
2010	$477,655,000	$53,452,000
2011	$483,921,000	$24,832,000
2012	$484,000,000	$31,400,000
2013	$508,000,000	$2,800,000
2014	$542,600,000	-$30,100,000
2015	$658,768,000	$23,927,000
2016	$729,216,000	$33,725,000

2001: WWE lost $68,994,000 on the XFL. NBC lost another $68,994,000.

2003: WWE lost $35,557,000 on “The World” / WWF New York restaurant.

2011-2014: WWE lost $40 million+ on its movie division and several millions in start-up costs for WWE Network.