WWE Reports Record Revenue, but WWE Subscriber Numbers Down

WWE released their 2017 second quarter financial report and reported record revenue for the quarter.

“Revenue increased 8% to a record $214.6 million as WWE’s Live Event and Network segments achieved their highest quarterly revenue in Company history.”

However, WWE subscriber numbers are down from their last earnings report, which was reported after WrestleMania in April. WWE announced 1.63 million subscribers, down from the 1.949 million they announced after WrestleMania. However, a large amount of those subscribers were due to WWE giving away a lot of 3 month free trial subscriptions to get their numbers up, as well as people who signed up just to see WrestleMania.

WWE Network subscriber numbers are up 8% from the same time last year, though.

WWE’s stock has been mostly unaffected by the report and it’s currently up a modest 0.32% to $21.75 per share.

You can click here to read WWE’s full financial report.

Here are some “highlights” they posted:

WWE® Reports Record Revenue and Q2 2017 Results

Second Quarter 2017 Highlights

Revenue increased 8% to a record $214.6 million as WWE’s Live Event and Network segments achieved their highest quarterly revenue in Company history

Operating income was $10.7 millionand Adjusted OIBDA1 of $18.1 million was essentially in line with the Company’s guidance

WWE Network averaged more than 1.63 million average paid subscribers over the second quarter 2017, which represented an 8% increase from the second quarter 2016

Launched localized weekly TV shows in India and Middle East. WWE Sunday Dhamaal in Hindi with Sony Pictures Networks and WWE Wal3ooha in Arabic with OSN feature highlights of Raw and SmackDown

Completed multi-year agreement to televise Raw and SmackDown on SuperSport, Africa’s premier sports broadcaster. WWE programming will be broadcast live for the first time in more than 50 countries

Through the first six months of the year, digital engagement metrics continued to grow with video views up 18% to 9.1 billion and social media followers increasing 19% to 800 million

Global sponsorship revenue increased 25% year-to-date, driven by new deals with blue-chip companies (KFC, Nestle and AT&T) and gaming partners (Psyonix, Square Enix & Activision)

Lagardère Sports, a best-in-class sports marketing agency, was selected to further develop the Company’s global sponsorship business

Completed agreements to develop new mobile games with GLU Mobile, maker of Racing Rivals and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and Sega, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega’s WWE Tap Mania launched July 20

Extended Mattel’s global master toy licensing agreement through 2021. WWE action figures continued to rank among the top three action figure properties in the U.S.

Here’s a breakdown of their net revenue for the 3 month period up to June 30, and 6 month period up to June 30: