WWE and UFC are merging departments for the overall benefit of TKO Holdings.
As announced via press release on January 4th, the two promotions have combined the respective global partnerships teams into one singular unit. The plan moving forward is for sponsors to have the opportunity to market their brands on both shows under the Endeavor umbrella as opposed to having to make deals with each separate entity.
Prior to the announced corporate merger, each promotion has been dealing with very different sponsors. The UFC has predominantly more adult-orientated sponsors such as alcohol and gambling brands. By contrast, WWE, which is PG-rated, has a more family-focused list of sponsors such as fast food and toy creators.
The press release is as follows:
TKO Merges UFC® and WWE® Global Partnerships Teams to Create Sports Marketing Powerhouse
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), a premium sports and entertainment company, today announced that it has combined the UFC and WWE global partnerships teams into one unit, providing brands with access to one of the most formidable sports marketing portfolios in the world.
UFC and WWE, which collectively serve more than one billion young and diverse fans in 170 countries, provide brand partners unparalleled scale and reach across multiple platforms, including premium live events, original content, and digital media. Further powered and enhanced by the Endeavor flywheel, the company’s global infrastructure that also includes IMG’s dynamic sales teams around the world, UFC and WWE together can offer marketers significantly expanded inventory, vastly increased brand visibility, extensive international reach, and unique integration opportunities across UFC and WWE premier content.
Grant Norris-Jones, who has played a key role in driving UFC’s global partnerships to six consecutive years of record revenue, has been elevated to lead the integrated unit as Executive Vice President and Head of Global Partnerships for TKO, which includes the entirety of UFC and WWE properties. Norris-Jones will work alongside Lou Koskovolis, who is also taking on an expanded role as TKO’s Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships. Together, they will focus on delivering unique, authentic integrations for TKO’s corporate partners. This new joint effort will further benefit from additional support and collaboration with the Endeavor Partnerships team to maximize value for brands across the entire Endeavor portfolio of assets.
With partnership sales, activations, and operations teams in New York, Las Vegas, Stamford, Conn., London, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Shanghai, and Toronto, the newly combined unit will focus on creating new revenue opportunities and brand integrations across UFC’s and WWE’s must-watch live and original content.
“Since Endeavor acquired UFC in 2016, UFC’s global partnerships business has become a significant growth area,” said Andrew Schleimer, Chief Financial Officer, TKO, “and we believe WWE’s partnerships business has similar potential. Together, UFC and WWE create a sports marketing powerhouse, with hundreds of live events per year and a reach that’s equal to, or better than, the world’s biggest sports properties. The newly integrated global partnerships team will offer premium brands the opportunity to integrate and activate within UFC’s and WWE’s extraordinarily popular content to engage their massive fan bases around the world.”
In recent years, UFC has partnered with brands that are consumer product and category leaders, including Anheuser-Busch, Crypto.com, DraftKings, Jose Cuervo, Monster Energy, PRIME Hydration, Timex, and VeChain.
In addition, WWE has worked with dozens of blue-chip brands across its roster of promotional assets. Over the last year, WWE has activated with Applebee’s, General Mills, Mattel, Netflix, PepsiCo, Pizza Hut, Slim Jim, and Snickers.
WWE Approaching One Year Under Endeavor Ownership
On April 3rd 2023, it was announced that WWE and UFC agreed to a $21 billion merger. Despite the rumour of a sale being known since the end of 2022, many were hesitant to believe that Vince McMahon would actually sell and lose control of the professional wrestling empire that he had built to what it is today. As with a lot of major corporate mergers over the years, while the combined resources and cost saving have been a financial success, multiple job losses have taken place in WWE including office staff and onscreen talent.