Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against WWE Over Saudi Arabia Deal Issues

A class action lawsuit against WWE was filed this past weekend in regards to issues with the company’s current deal with the government of Saudi Arabia, according to PWInsider and Post Wrestling.

The lawsuit was filed by one of WWE’s stock holders, City of Warren Police and Fire Retirement System, and alleges that WWE failed to disclose or made misleading statements to investors regarding their behind-the-scenes issues with the Saudi Arabian government.

Among the issues mentioned were WWE failing to properly disclose the rising tensions between the company and Saudi government, the breakdown in talks for a new television deal in the region, and the Saudi government owing the company millions of dollars for events held in the country.

Portion of the class action lawsuit:

(1) WWE was experiencing rising tension with the Saudi government and a breakdown in negotiations over a renewed broadcasting distribution deal; (2) the Saudi government and its affiliates had failed to make millions of dollars in payments owed to WWE pursuant to existing contractual commitments between the parties; (3) Orbit Showcase Network (“OSN”), a Saudi-controlled direct broadcast satellite provider, had terminated the broadcast of WWE programming in the first quarter of 2019, despite a contractual obligation to continue such broadcasts, and that this cancellation was symptomatic of a deterioration in the business relationship between the parties; (4) OSN had rebuffed efforts to renew a distribution rights agreement on terms acceptable to WWE; and (5) WWE did not have the ability to expand its operations in the Middle East or within Saudi Arabia as had been represented to investors.

The lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC an shareholders have until May 6th to join the plaintiffs in the suit.