The WWE and UFC merger became official on Tuesday morning with the official launch of TKO Group Holdings.
Vince McMahon has been named as the Executive Chairman of the Board of TKO Group Holdings while Nick Khan will continue to serve as the President of WWE.
During a recent appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Khan discussed the merger, Vince McMahon’s return from his medical hiatus following spinal surgery, media rights, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Vince McMahon’s recovery from back surgery: “Look, assume that he’s doing it faster than he should be doing, which, one might say, ‘Hey, slow down, slow down.’ But again, I don’t think to the Vinces and the Danas of the world there is any slowing down, so he seems to be progressing quite well. It was major back surgery. He’s back on his feet.”
On if McMahon opted for the WWE and UFC merger so he could stay involved with the company: “I don’t think that was a deciding factor in this. I think Vince approached it as, ‘Hey, I want to make sure every shareholder is treated the same way I, Vince, am treated.’ And it was the Endeavor folks who asked him to stay in once the process was well underway, and bids were already in, and all of those things.”
On when WWE and UFC’s media rights expire: “You have NBCU who is a significant partner of WWE, Disney, as you just mentioned, a significant partner of UFC. Those deals are not up at the same time. But it is interesting that you have two companies that tend to compete with each other, whether it was over the acquisition of the FOX assets a few years ago. Just after that, as you recall, the Sky acquisition…So let’s see. Let’s see what happens. We’re thrilled with NBCU — we meaning WWE — and UFC seems to be thrilled with Disney, but yes, it can always get better. So let’s see… WWE is up in October 2024. UFC’s up about a year later.”
