Since Vince McMahon’s return to WWE in order to explore possible options for selling the company, other industry players are keeping an eye on the situation. One such player is Leonard Asper, founder and CEO of Anthem Sports, the majority stakeholder in Impact Wrestling and its affiliated network, AXS TV.
In a recent BNN Bloomberg interview, Asper shared his thoughts on the scope of a potential sale and what the purchaser could stand to gain from it. Aper also discussed likely outcomes for the WWE brand, depending on the company that acquires the promotion. He said,
“We’re watching it closely. It’s a hot area right now and I’m glad we’re in it. It is the example of a multi-headed beast and in a great way. They sell their content to third parties, they have their own direct to consumer app, they have their own free distribution of content. It’s one where the talent drives a lot of what the success ratio is. All Elite Wrestling came along and bought a bunch of wrestlers from WWE. There is a little bit of talent war going on there. I think whoever buys WWE, they will probably take it to a new level, especially if they are a strategic media company. Amazon, Disney, they have a whole ecosystem of how to build revenue from content. If private equity guys want to buy it, it’s going to get cost cuts and that usual thing, they’ll leverage up and do what they do. If a strategic media company buys it, I’d back that strategic media company because that’s a great franchise.”
