WWE exec: UFC not specifically a competitor
Recently, Chief Financial Officer, George Barrios, of the WWE took place in a media Q&A at the UBS Global Media…
Recently, Chief Financial Officer, George Barrios, of the WWE took place in a media Q&A at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference. An often discussed topic about the UFC and MMA came up, as Barrios was asked if he viewed the UFC or MMA in general as competition:
When we look at competition writ large, it’s really anything that takes eyeballs from us, so it’s a fairly broad competitive set. And I think if you are in entertainment that is the way you have to look at it. I think we get a lot of questions about MMA, as I often say, it’s because I think people see that the both are performers are wearing some form of spandex, so they think there must be some natural competition there. We don’t view it that way. We tend to — we take the broader view, which is we are a pop culture entertainment brand, and anything that takes attention away from us is something that gets our attention.
We don’t really view UFC or MMA more broadly as a specific competitor, but you know they are part of entertainment landscape and they take eyeballs away from — or they soak up eyeballs, so we obviously have to be aware of them. But we don’t view them as specific competitor. And if you looked at the data, the data kind of backs that off. They have a different demographic. There is a big overlap between UFC or MMA and boxing. If you go to one of their events you see it more qualitatively versus one of our events. I said — I always say, if you go to one of our events, it looks a lot more like the demographic of Disney on ice. There is a lot of parents and a lot of kids there. If you go to a UFC, that’s not what they are, not a lot of kids there. So it’s a just a different environment. So I don’t want to diminish them as a competitor but I also don’t — we don’t anyway elevate them as a specific competitor.