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As WWE continues to post record financial results following its merger into TKO, employees say they’re seeing cutbacks in benefits and fewer promotions than expected.
Multiple current WWE employees, speaking under the condition of anonymity, described to Wrestlenomics a decline in morale tied to reduced benefits, limited pay increases, and heavier workloads as the company integrates with UFC.
TKO will report fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings on Wednesday. The parent of WWE and UFC has guided investors to expect adjusted EBITDA—its preferred measure of profit—between $1.22 billion and $1.24 billion for the year, with annual revenue projected between $2.67 billion and $2.75 billion.
Employees also pointed to a growing disconnect between corporate messaging and their daily experiences. While WWE management has emphasized the value of its workforce at town hall meetings, multiple staff said they feel increasingly undervalued.
A key reason for the merger was to improve profitability by consolidating services under Endeavor, which holds the majority of TKO’s ownership. As expected, this resulted in significant layoffs soon after the merger was finalized in September 2023.
At the same time, WWE is experiencing its hottest period in consumer business perhaps since the vaunted “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Despite that, the company’s stock purchase program ended when the merger closed, as previously reported. The program had allowed employees to buy WWE shares at a 15% discount. Since the merger was completed, the stock price has climbed more than 50% over the past 18 months, meaning employees lost access to a benefit that would have allowed them to invest in the company’s growth at a discounted rate.
The removal of the “WWE Superstar” program—a peer-recognition initiative that allowed employees to reward each other with points redeemable for cash bonuses, gift cards, or experiences—has also been a source of frustration.
Additionally, WWE eliminated complimentary live event tickets for employees, a long-standing perk.
WWE didn’t respond to a request for comment for this report. It’s possible the company would point to increased ticket demand as a reason for the decision. Attendance for televised events is at its highest in years, according to data from WrestleTix, and the company has greatly reduced the number of domestic house shows. Still, some employees see the move as emblematic of a broader trend.
WWE’s corporate website, where potential job applicants could consider the company’s “Total Rewards” benefits, still lists the recognition program, stock purchase plan, and complimentary tickets among the rewards employees may be eligible for.
Update: Since this article was published the Total Rewards page has been updated to remove the benefits no longer offered.
Meanwhile, WWE and TKO management have publicly touted a strong financial outlook. WWE’s new $5 billion, 10-year streaming deal with Netflix took effect in January to remarkable fanfare. The company announced that as part of its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, it will bring the Royal Rumble to the country next year. The Saudi government already pays WWE around $100 million annually for two premium live events, which are traditionally less prestigious than the Rumble. Further, many recent PLEs have set new ticket sales records. WWE registered a $4.8 million gate for the premiere of Raw on Netflix at the Intuit Dome just outside Los Angeles in January, the biggest arena gate in company history. Weeks later, WWE had its biggest non-Wrestlemania gate ever, somewhere over $17 million for the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis. And last month WWE announced a deal with MLS to allow the soccer league to produce its studio shows at WWE headquarters.
Employees told Wrestlenomics, however, that WWE’s financial success hasn’t translated into meaningful pay increases.
Multiple staff members said they received a 3% cost-of-living raise this year, which they argue hardly keeps pace with the rising living costs in Connecticut and New York, in the region around WWE’s headquarters.
Employees with strong performance reviews were told that despite those positive ratings, they wouldn’t get more than a cost-of-living adjustment due to budget constraints set by upper management. Some had expected significant raises or promotions based on past company practices but were informed that the business was not in a position to offer increases because of the merger.
Employee morale at WWE has been declining for some time now, employees informed us.
Following recent performance reviews, employees already frustrated by the loss of the stock purchase program, comp tickets, and peer-recognition program, were further discouraged by the lack of meaningful raises to reward those who have performed well.
Concerns raised with lower- and mid-level managers, we’re told, were met with explanations citing executive-level decisions.
Many who are frustrated by these unwelcome changes since the merger have respect for the company but nonetheless told us they feel obligated to speak up because they want to be compensated fairly for the work they’ve performed. They’re surprised by the direction WWE has taken since the transaction with Endeavor, especially with WWE now on a hot streak after many employees worked through periods when the company’s business wasn’t as strong as it is now.
While pay increases for most employees have been modest, top executives received substantial bonuses—multiples of their base salaries—tied to the closing of the merger, according to SEC filings including TKO’s most recent proxy statement.
- TKO CEO Ari Emanuel received $20 million in cash related to the merger, plus a stock award of 388,162 shares, the latter now worth around $60 million (based on Friday’s closing share price of $158.82).
- TKO COO Mark Shapiro was awarded $5 million, plus stock grants totaling 313,400 shares, equity valued at about $50 million.
- WWE President Nick Khan received a $15 million cash bonus.
- WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque was awarded $5 million.
TKO’s top executives are compensated not only with a base salary but with millions more in bonuses that are determined by the TKO Board, based on the company’s financial performance. The practice isn’t at all unusual for a public company like TKO but further highlights how executives are being incentivized in ways most employees are not.
We’re not aware of any bonus awarded broadly to employees connected to the September 2023 merger or compensation that’s determined specifically by WWE’s financial performance.
It’s not just executives benefiting ahead of much of the employee base. Investors have also been rewarded. In October, TKO announced a stock buyback program, pledging to repurchase up to $2 billion worth of shares—a move that typically helps drive share prices higher. TKO stated it expects the buybacks to happen throughout the next three to four years. The company also announced it would begin paying quarterly dividends to the non-Endeavor shareholder class—largely financial institutions—with payments totaling $75 million every three months, the first set for March 31 of this year.
Limits to benefits and compensation might be more understandable if there were complications impeding the merger’s success.
But on TKO’s most recent earnings call in November, Emanuel told investors the merger had exceeded expectations.
“We’re executing on our strategy and delivering record results while realizing greater integration and synergy opportunities than initially expected,” Emanuel said before he went on to note the buyback and dividend announcements.
As WWE’s financial outlook improves, employees say their workloads have only increased. Some report working 50 to 60 hours per week, particularly during the busy Wrestlemania season. Others say they have been assigned additional UFC-related tasks since the merger, similar to how staff were previously required to assist with XFL work when Vince McMahon relaunched the football league before the pandemic.
Some employees are concerned that as TKO expands—acquiring Endeavor assets like Professional Bull Riders (PBR), On Location, and IMG—WWE staff will be expected to take on even more work without additional compensation and dwindling benefits. TKO executives have publicly discussed the possibility of entering professional boxing, as well.
Like the wrestlers and MMA fighters who work under TKO, WWE employees are not represented by a union or association.
One WWE employee noted to us that morale has suffered to the point that some staff are less willing to go above and beyond in ways they once did.
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Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.