Vince McMahon returned to the WWE Board of Directors this week to pursue a potential sale of WWE ahead of media rights negotiations and now everyone is wondering who could potentially step up and try to purchase the company.
Front Office Sports reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is emerging as a potential bidder if WWE goes up for sale. It was noted that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund controls $620 billion in assets and purchasing WWE could be the next step in their global expansion.
Saudi Arabia also has history with WWE as the company has reportedly generated $400 million from their Saudi Arabia events since 2018 due to Wrestlenomics.
PIF have been the majority owner of English Premier League club Newcastle United since 2021 and in 2022 they spent at least $2 billion to launch LIV Golf, a competitor to the PGA Tour.
“In the same way they did LIV, there’s an unlimited faucet of dollars there,” LightShed Partners analyst Brandon Ross told Front Office Sports. “The Saudis are already a decent part of the profitability of the company just on those two [Saudi-based WWE] events alone. They’re trying to be relevant in the entertainment world.”
According to the report sources have also pegged the following companies as potential suitors:
- Amazon entered the U.S. sports business in a big way with a $1 billion-a-year deal to exclusively stream the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” through 2033.
- Comcast’s NBCUniversal Media and Fox Corp., which already boasts media rights deals for “Monday Night Raw” and “Friday Night Smackdown” respectively
- Endeavor purchased a controlling stake in the UFC for $4 billion in 2016.
- Liberty Media acquired Formula One for $4.4 billion in 2016.
- Global talent agency CAA.
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
