How Have the UFC and WWE Changed Since Merging into TKO Group?
On September 12, 2023, the long-wrangled merger between two of America’s biggest athletic brands came together to forge the TKO Group. With the WWE and UFC coming together, according to the report here, Endeavor landed 51 percent, and Vince McMahon claimed 16.4 percent, with the remaining shares being spread across the WWE’s other shareholders. With that, a sports mega company was made.
For the shareholders, the returns have been welcomed. The WWE closed on the New York Stock Exchange, while also becoming the basis of TKO Group Holdings Inc., at just over $100. At the close of 2024, TKO’s price looks to settle at around $145. So, what changes have been made since the merger to inspire such investor confidence and seemingly improve the two major sports and entertainment brands?
Combining Forces and Finding Mega New Arenas
When the UFC and MMA merged, the plan was clearly to consolidate the talent and allow the best of both of these hugely popular brands to spearhead the approach for both. That means that the UFC’s Grant Norris-Jones, who oversaw tremendous growth in sponsorship and other such deals with the MMA brand, took on the executive vice president role for both. That was in January 2024.
In March 2024, the WWE announced its first new major sponsorship deal, with that being its first-ever spirits deal, according to this piece. They teamed up with Wheatley Vodka in a new approach that extended the deal into the more long-term bracket, which the WWE has avoided in the past. It made Wheatley the official vodka of the massive WrestleMania XL across the whole events and for further branding.
By May, TKO had merged the two’s live events groups, and as 2025 got underway, WWE Raw was making a splash in its new home. The fortuitous expiry dates of the WWE’s linear deals with NBCUniversal and Fox allowed the new heads to sign a lucrative 2025 deal with Netflix – a platform desperate to get in on the live sports entertainment scene – giving the WWE unprecedented exposure. In 2025, the UFC’s deal with ESPN will expire.
Exploring New Avenues for Branding
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While the UFC and WWE were working out their merger, another line of entertainment already firmly established overseas was growing across the US and Canada. That entertainment medium is online casino gaming, which has become wildly popular in the handful of states it’s regulated in as well as many Canadian provinces – particularly Ontario. Seeing an opportunity, the TKO team came to an agreement with one of iGaming’s most storied brands.
In May 2024, Games Global – a group that features the original online slot maker, Microgaming – signed an exclusive partnership with the UFC, followed by another with the WWE, to make their branded slots. Now, when you visit this web-site and click on the 4.5/5-rated online casino offering 250 free spins and e-check as a payment method, you’ll see all of these games.
UFC Gold Blitz Extreme and WWE Bonus Rumble: Gold Blitz headline the slots that have arrived since these deals commenced. Even before this deal, Games Global was sending hit WWE slots to the most popular casinos in Canada via its All for One Studios, with both WWE Legends Link & Win and WWE: Clash of the Wilds being bona fide hits online.
Combining the WWE and UFC has essentially refined the business side of both sports and entertainment companies, only empowering TKO to seek bigger and better deals for the two mega brands.
