WWE Touts Big Revenue Gains And PLE Viewership In Second Quarter 2022 Report

The McMahon-Helmsley era of WWE is starting off on the right foot, at least financially. WWE released its 2022 second-quarter results this morning, and the company is championing its record-setting revenue, which increased 24% to $328.2 million.

"Our strong financial performance was primarily driven by our return to a full live event schedule and our consumer products business," said WWE Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Frank Riddick. "These items more than offset an increase in production, content-related, and other expenses."

The new regime is also happy about its premium live event numbers. "WrestleMania, as well as our other [PLEs] including WrestleMania Backlash, Hell in a Cell, Money in the Bank, and SummerSlam all delivered record viewership for their respective events," the report said. WWE particularly touted the year-over-year increases n domestic unique viewership on Peacock for WrestleMania (60%), Backlash (49%), and Hell in a Cell (45%).

"We're excited about the recently announced management structure, including the appointment of Paul Levesque as head of WWE creative and talent," co-CEOS Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan said in a joint statement. 

WWE also say an immense percentage increase in consumer products. Revenue for that category increased from $21.6 million to $44.1 million, a 96% increase, thanks greatly in part due to the release of WWE 2K22 and its influx into the trading card market and collectibles for fans.

The report addresses the exit of Vince McMahon and states that the Special Committee investigation behind the McMahon allegations is "substantially complete," and that financial statement adjustments were made for the years of 2019, 2020, 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.