Nick Khan has confirmed that WWE will be making “aggressive” cuts following the deal with Endeavor and the planned merger with UFC.
Speaking to LightShed Partners, Khan pointed to the cuts UFC made when it was purchased by Endeavor back in 2016. He added that WWE is looking to make savings of at least $50 million.
“If you look at what Endeavor was able to take out, cost-wise, from UFC in 2016 or shortly after that deal was done, we have the same expectation here. We think 50 (million) is a really conservative number. We have integration teams now, we’re going to get those in shape, I think we’ll have a better sense of it in a month or two. We’re going to be pretty aggressive with them to make sure that, for our shareholders and for our company, our organization is as lean and mean as possible, and we’re going to rely on the Endeavor flywheel to make up the rest.”
Nick Khan Denies Cuts Will Affect Talent And Production Staff
Despite the significant cost-saving measures on the way, Khan claimed that these will not affect the on-screen product, noting that he wants to leave it “untouched.”
“The most important thing is to leave the product untouched. Untouched, meaning, if Triple H and Kevin Dunn want to evolve it, great, but in terms of cutbacks there, that’s not what we’re looking to do.”
At time of writing, there’s no word on when these cuts will take place.