With WrestleMania only a few hours away, most of the attention on WWE is focused on whether the company will deliver the goods on their biggest show of the year.
And while the stories and matches are certainly news-worthy, there are some additional backroom and boardroom updates that has just as many implications as the results of WrestleMania’s matches.
Company CEO Nick Khan spoke on John Durand & Andrew Marchand’s podcast to discuss different things about the company’s performance and expectations going into and leaving WrestleMania.
One of those topics was the company’s pricing model and Khan suggested that WWE is exploring different delivery options, one of which being a return to traditional PPV/PLE instead of the current subscription services model.
Regarding the company’s current arrangement with Peacock, Nick Khan alleged that a “substantial” amount of the service’s 20 million users come from the fans. That said, Khan noted that he and other key stakeholders were interested in looking at following ESPN’s model with UFC+ for the special PPV events.
WWE interested in returning to traditional PPV business model, says Nick Khan
But to get there, Khan noted that NBCU would have to offer five times the current rights fees for the company to consider such a model.
Additionally, Nick Khan is looking out for the fans as well. A major point of contention in such talks would be pricing for the fans as Khan doesn’t want the service to out-price fans, especially given what many of them are getting under the current payment model with Peacock.
Khan talked about other subjects as well, including Vince McMahon and Roman Reigns. A complete summary of the interview can be found here.