Poll of the Day > WWE sold to Saudi Arabia

(+) Yeah! (+)

LMAO

Vince is so petty, you have to love it.

Fuck the E though. I haven't watched wrestling in years but I pay "attention" via a podcast and occasionally watch a clip every now and then. But fuck this. I'm done with giving them even the slightest consideration beyond what Jim Cornette chooses to discuss.

This is what happens when you have a conservative choose between a buttload of money or actual national pride. Let's sell an American company to a foreign government then talk about making America great again. Hypocrites.

It's still just a rumor but it's not looking good.
Vince is senile and has sucked for a long time.

Not officially confirmed

Not just "not officially confirmed", a lot of sources are saying it's complete bullshit.

Though it's possible that the Saudi deal is going to happen eventually, because WWE is clearly hot to sell and there's really only about 3-4 possible buyers out there (and the Saudis are one of them).



Nightwish posted...

This is what happens when you have a conservative choose between a buttload of money or actual national pride.

No, it's more what happens when an insane old sex predator is forced out of his own publicly traded company, and has to resort to super-villain level machinations to maneuver his way back into power.

FinalFantasy2389 posted...

It's still just a rumor but it's not looking good.
Vince is senile and has sucked for a long time.

Agreed.

Yeah, I jumped the gun(along with almost everyone else).

But the reason it got so much steam in the first place is because of just how "Vince" the move would be.

And Vince is a twisted motherfucker who I should hate, but there will only ever be one Vince McMahon and it's hard not to appreciate the force of nature what it is.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

there's really only about 3-4 possible buyers out there (and the Saudis are one of them).

More rumors of Fox, NBC, Disney, Amazon, a couple more I can't remember as I just woke up and of course Saudi wanting to buy.

Wonder who the best option would be with Saudi being the worst option

Krow_Incarnate posted...

And Vince is a twisted motherfucker who I should hate, but there will only ever be one Vince McMahon and it's hard not to appreciate the force of nature what it is.

It's been said for years that people like Ric Flair and Larry the Cable Guy basically lost themselves in their characters, so that the real person basically morphed into the ridiculously over the top persona they pretended to be for years.

Vince has basically turned into the "Mr. McMahon" character from the Attitude Era. As people pointed out, him trying to force his way back into control of the company and potentially destroying it in the process are literally storylines the WWE has already done.

There's a reason why the "lethal dose of poison" line got brought up a lot over the last 48 hours or so.

'Merica...

I mean,
'Rabia...

FinalFantasy2389 posted...

More rumors of Fox, NBC, Disney, Amazon, a couple more I can't remember as I just woke up and of course Saudi wanting to buy.

Wonder who the best option would be with Saudi being the worst option

I'd argue Fox or Amazon. NBC is too focused on Dick Wolf. Disney would have too many rules and restrictions.

It's not just WWE some of your favorite American, Japanese etc companies have sold out to the Saudi's. Whomever controls the gold controls the world.

This is nothing NEW folks.....American pride doesn't mean shit compared to dollar signs

sull56ivan2010 posted...

I'd argue Fox or Amazon. NBC is too focused on Dick Wolf. Disney would have too many rules and restrictions.

FOX seems like the logical choice, it seems like WWE would appeal to their core viewership.

NBC and Fox still seem like the top buyers, but given that Stephanie resigned yesterday as co-CEO, I wouldn't be the least surprised in Saudi buys them.

sull56ivan2010 posted...

I'd argue Fox or Amazon. NBC is too focused on Dick Wolf. Disney would have too many rules and restrictions.

Fox is currently disappointed with the WWE - SmackDown is on Fox on Fridays and hasn't been getting the ratings they were promised. They're supposed to renegotiate the deal this year and rumors have been that they'd either demand a cheaper deal or would drop WWE entirely (part of why WWE is rushing to get a sale before then). They're extremely unlikely to want to pony up the $6 billion plus minimum that Vince is supposedly holding out for.

Disney might theoretically be a strong option, but they're currently in their "buy billion dollar franchises and fuck them up until they become million dollar franchises" phase, so that might not be the best choice for WWE after all. Doubly so because Disney probably wouldn't be inclined to put WWE shows on either ABC or ESPN, so it likely gets relegated to Disney+ exclusive which potentially cripples it. In addition, Disney probably isn't going to want to pay more for WWE than they did for Star Wars.

NBC is probably the most likely option. WWE has had some form of deal with them for decades for TV space, and the entirety of the WWE Network is currently being licensed to Peacock, so there's incentive for them to make a play for WWE. The only real major change would probably be SmackDown getting pulled away from Fox and shifted back to the USA network.

People have also suggested Amazon, Netflix, or Discovery/Warner/HBO, but all three have had their own problems as of late, and probably wouldn't be able to pony up the amount of cash Vince is going to demand without severely handicapping themselves (Discovery's already taken on huge debt to acquire Warner, which is why they've been firebombing so much stuff on HBO Max to salvage some cash).

Unfortunately, the Saudis are the best option for Vince - which may literally be the only thing that actually matters. It's been implied the Saudis will probably be willing to overpay for the company (meaning they'll be willing to pay more than anyone else), and they're also the ones most likely to allow Vince to keep running things afterwards. And since they'd probably take the company private again, Vince would pretty much be immune to public opinion and the accusations of sex abuses. The Crown Prince isn't going to give a shit about that sort of thing.

That's the main reason why a lot of people assumed the rumors were true - like it or not, the Saudis make the most sense as buyers. At least when you factor in the premise that the deal won't be what's best for the WWE as a company or as an entertainment product but what's best for Vince.

Is this why Steph left?

Amarudo posted...

Is this why Steph left?

The real reason is probably she was tired of working under her father. Keep in mind she has worked for WWE for over 25 years (over 30 if you count her "modeling" career), her brother even left and did other stuff. With Vince still around, she is always going to be working in his shadow when, from all accounts, she is very well liked by most of the employees and everyone wants her to run the company over Vince.

If the Saudi's buy WWE, it is almost a certainty that Vince is still going to be running things.

WWE is going to continue to keep going downhill no matter who gets it. Saudi getting WWE might be final nail in the coffin(if it plays out that way).

Red_Haze posted...

American pride doesn't mean shit compared to dollar signs

That's because is generally meant by "American pride" in this country is borderline chauvinism

ladder match for ownership of the wwe confirmed

Wtf does Saudi Arabia want with WWE?

BigOlePappy posted...

Wtf does Saudi Arabia want with WWE?

You know how spoiled brats point at random things in Walmart and go "I WANT THAT!! GIMME!! GIMME!!" while their parents are shopping? Basically imagine that except with billions of dollars.

sull56ivan2010 posted...

NBC is too focused on Dick Wolf.

Are you saying you wouldn't watch Dick Wolf's "Sports And Entertainment"?

BigOlePappy posted...

Wtf does Saudi Arabia want with WWE?

PR. And the same thing that Dubai has been doing with the ridiculous tourism building - ie, trying to come up with something to generate income once the oil money runs out.

The Saudis have been running WWE shows for about 4 years now (and still have 6 years left on that deal) as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan. And they've invested in other things (like soccer and golf) via the Public Investment Fund.

Basically, Saudi Arabia gets two PPVs a year and pays about 50 million each for them (for a total of 1 billion over 10 years). Buying the company as a whole would allow them to run more shows without having to pay extra for them, while also reaping the income from WWE's global business as a whole.

The problem is that plenty of networks have refused to work with the Saudis (they've had trouble getting their golf league on TV at all and were forced to stream it online), so if they did acquire WWE they might lose a lot of that global revenue if they lose TV clearance in places like the US, or if it affects live-event attendance.

Nightwish posted...

This is what happens when you have a conservative choose between a buttload of money or actual national pride. Let's sell an American company to a foreign government then talk about making America great again. Hypocrites.

I say this without knowing full details...
Let's be real though, conversely, you go and pump your franchise full of that national pride and end up getting lambasted by (social) media and lose investors, good time slots, etc; By some weird virtue of nothing whatsoever, everything HAS to be politics these days. So yeah, if I owned a corporation and could choose to either live by the values or ideas that I'd want and just get shit on for that (while also having half of my current fanbase just blindly support anything I did, which is just as awful) or just make bank and retire for life, I think I would have to give some healthy consideration to the second.

Saudi Arabia also upped its investment in Nintendo from 5% to 6%

The new CEO of WWE must be Uncle Saudi.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/1/AAOV7sAAEFV9.jpg

BigOlePappy posted...

Wtf does Saudi Arabia want with WWE?

divestment from oil profits to other portfolios

Dikitain posted...

You know how spoiled brats point at random things in Walmart and go "I WANT THAT!! GIMME!! GIMME!!" while their parents are shopping? Basically imagine that except with billions of dollars.

Nah they are just buying other assets as the world transitions from fossil fuels so that they are not SOL