In a move that sent shockwaves through the sports entertainment industry, the WWE has finalized a merger with Endeavor’s UFC.  The news comes on the heels of the most successful WrestleMania in the history of the company in Los Angeles.

Monday, Vince McMahon announced plans to sell a controlling stake in WWE to Endeavor in a merger with mixed-martial arts rival UFC.  The all-stock deal will see Endeavor’s UFC and WWE merged to create a new standalone company, yet unnamed, noted to be worth around $21 billion. Endeavor shareholders will own 51% and WWE shareholders 49%.  An 11-member board will be split 6 directors to 5, Endeavor-WWE.

WWE in the deal is valued at $9.3 billion. In the re-alignment, Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel will be the CEO, McMahon will be the executive chairman. WWE CEO Nick Khan will be president of the unified company and UFC’s Dana White will continue as president of that organization.

In an interview with Emanuel and McMahon for CNBC, Vince shared that it was time for things to evolve, elaborating, “a family business has to evolve, for all the right reasons. And this is the right business decision, and it’s the right family decision.”  The major merger is expected to close mid-year pending regulatory approval.

This all comes at a time for McMahon where he had to pay the company back $17 million dollars of reimbursement for costs during the legal probe for allegations of sexual misconduct against him.  When many thought Vince was done at the WWE, he has bounced back.  Vince expressed: “Let me just say, I’ve made mistakes both personally and professionally through my 50-year career. I have owned up to every single one of them and then moved on.”

The deal was struck as a crucial time when Fox and NBCUniversal are entering into an exclusive negotiating window which began on April 1st. Fox airs Smackdown, while USA Networks airs Raw, and in a separate deal, Peacock now holds the streaming rights.

During Monday Night Raw, Paul ‘Triple H” Levesque assured viewers at home and the audience in attendance at Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, that with the new merger, it will not effect the current landscape of WWE programming and live events, sharing “We ain’t goin’ nowhere!”

Photo: WWE

In a look at WrestleMania 39 by the numbers: the two-day sold-out event at SoFi Stadium set new records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise and social media. Night 2 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 33 percent, just one day after Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 28 percent.

WrestleMania 39 generated a gate of more than $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27 percent, with 161,892 in attendance at SoFi Stadium over the two nights.  Sponsorship revenue eclipsed $20 million, more than doubling the previous record. Merchandise sales were up 20 percent versus the record set in 2022.  This year’s WrestleMania has over 500 million views on social media and 11 million hours of video consumed over the two days, a 42 percent increase over last year.

Now take a look at Vince McMahon and Ari Emanuel discussing their merger with CNBC this morning below, followed by Triple H addressing the crowd at the beginning of Monday Night RAW tonight.

Do you think the WWE/UFC Endeavor merger will ultimately be a a good long term for the WWE? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.