WWE didn’t meet their ROI standards.
That is what Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch told investors on a call today.
“We were not hitting the advertising numbers due to the audience of the WWE for our return on investment to be above the levels that we would accept. But also, we didn’t attribute enough significant retransmission revenue to the WWE either,” he said of Fox’s deal with the WWE.
Murdoch wished the WWE the best of luck on their future endeavors.
“It made sense for us to move on. They’ve been a great partner for many years but just quite simply, we’re very disciplined and the ROI didn’t meet our pretty disciplined parameters. So, we wish them luck and we’ve moved on from them,” he said about the decision not to air Smackdown any longer in the fall of next year.
WWE has signed a deal with the USA Network for Smackdown to return to that platform when Fox’s deal ends in October 2024. The deal is reportedly worth a$1.4 billion. WWE will also produce four specials for NBC as part of their partnership.
