Vince McMahon held a call earlier today to address the current state of WWE amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and he confirmed that talents will be cut and employees will be furloughed. McMahon also confirmed plans for WWE to move into a new HQ have been delayed.
PWInsider reports that McMahon said he hopes to have furloughed employees back, but there is currently no timeline. He also said that WWE will be making permanent talent cuts, and that employees will be receiving texts regarding where they stand moving forward. According to the report Vince said these are hard decisions that reflect the current reality.
Executives and board members have had their pay cut. Plans to move into the new WWE HQ have been delayed by at least six months.
It’s expected that talent release announcements are coming.
WWE issued the following:
“WWE® PROVIDES COVID-19 BUSINESS UPDATE
STAMFORD, Conn., April 15, 2020 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today provided an update on measures taken by the Company in response to the current impact of COVID-19 on the organization.
Due to COVID-19 and current government mandated impacts on WWE and the media business generally, the Company went through an extensive evaluation of its operations over the past several weeks. This analysis resulted in the implementation of various short-term cost reductions and cash flow improvement actions including:
– Reducing executive and board member compensation;
– Decreasing operating expenses;
– Cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting;
– Deferring spend on the build out of the Company’s new headquarters for at least six months.
Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately. The decision to furlough versus permanently reduce headcount reflects the fact that the Company currently believes the furlough will be temporary in nature.
The Company’s reductions of employee compensation and headcount result in an estimated monthly savings of $4 million along with cash flow improvement of $140 million primarily from the deferral in spending on the Company’s new headquarters. Additionally, the Company has substantial financial resources, both available cash and debt capacity, which currently total approximately $0.5 billion, to manage the challenges ahead. Management continues to believe the fundamentals of the Company’s business remain strong and that WWE is well positioned to take full advantage of the changing media landscape and increasing value of live sports rights over the longer term.
The Company will provide further details when it reports its first quarter 2020 results next Thursday, April 23 after the close of the market.”
