WWE signs multi-year exclusive licensing rights deal with IGT to develop omnichannel lottery games - January 6, 2022

WWE® Signs Multi-Year Agreement with IGT for Exclusive Licensing Rights to Develop Omnichannel Lottery Games

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WWE® Signs Multi-Year Agreement with IGT for Exclusive Licensing Rights to Develop Omnichannel Lottery Games

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) announced that it has signed a multi-year exclusive licensing agreement with International Game Technology PLC (“IGT”) (NYSE: IGT) to develop and distribute WWE-branded omnichannel lottery games and turnkey promotional programs featuring company logos, Superstars, events and programs.

“IGT is the clear industry leader in the lottery and gaming space, and we look forward to collaborating by bringing our intellectual property to our fans and lottery games around the globe,” said Alex Varga, WWE Vice President, Revenue Strategy & Development. “This is an exciting opportunity for us to continue to leverage the strong crossover between the WWE Universe and another segment of the gaming landscape.”

“The WWE brand has broad appeal that reaches diverse age groups and cultural demographics in many geographies,” said Jay Gendron, IGT Chief Operating Officer, Lottery. “IGT looks forward to melding the unique WWE assets with IGT’s lottery expertise to create appealing, high-quality games and second-chance promotional opportunities for our global customers and their players.”

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For more information about IGT’s lottery business, visit igt.com and follow IGT on LinkedIn.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live events, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 900 million homes worldwide in 28 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all premium live events, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.

About IGT

IGT (NYSE: IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We deliver entertaining and responsible gaming experiences for players across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Sports Betting and Digital. Leveraging a wealth of compelling content, substantial investment in innovation, player insights, operational expertise, and leading-edge technology, our solutions deliver unrivaled gaming experiences that engage players and drive growth. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has approximately 11,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.igt.com.

Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2022 WWE. All Rights Reserved. Macho Man Randy Savage TM licensed by CMG Brands, LLC.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business, results of operations and financial condition; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; a rapidly evolving media landscape; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including without limitation, claims alleging traumatic brain injury; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the volatility of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

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AEW Dynamite tops one million viewers for TBS debut

The show featured Page vs. Danielson II, the TBS tournament finals, and more.

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AEW Dynamite tops one million viewers for TBS debut

BY PAUL FONTAINE

AEW Dynamite's TBS debut averaged 1,010,000 viewers on Wednesday night, up 3.6 percent from the final episode on TNT. It’s just the second time since October 6 that the show has topped one million viewers.

In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite drew a 0.43 rating, up 16.2 percent from last week. That’s the show's best number in the demo since September 29.

This is also the first week that Dynamite aired live on the West Coast since October 6.

Dynamite finished second on the cable charts in 18-49, trailing only an NBA game on ESPN that averaged 1.7 million viewers and drew a 0.53 in 18-49.

The show was up in every age group with the exception of people over 50. In that category, Dynamite was down 2.8 percent from the previous week.

The biggest increase, by far, was in the 18-34 age group, where the week-to-week jump was 79 percent.

The show also increased more with women than with men. In the 18-49 age group, women were up 20 percent and men were up 10 percent. In 12-34, the difference was even more dramatic. Females in that demo doubled last week's number, while males were up 45 percent.

As compared to this week last year, when Dynamite aired head-to-head with NXT New Year's Evil and also against news coverage of the United States Capitol insurrection, Dynamite was up 52.6 percent in overall viewers and up 72 percent in the demo.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for Dynamite. The debut show on TBS was up 8.7 percent in viewers and up 22.9 percent in 18-49 from the 10-week averages prior to this week.

*click here for full article

(Wrestling Observer / Fgure Four Online)

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As noted, the controversy surrounding Tony Khan and Big Swole was a hot topic this weekend. It began with an episode of Big Swole’s “Swole World” show that aired on Call-In. During the episode, the former AEW star pointed to a lack of diversity in the top spots of the company as one of the leading factors in her departure in 2021.

Tony Khan responded in a single tweet, pointed to how other people of color have succeeded in AEW, and then said he let Swole’s contract expire because her wrestling wasn’t good enough.

“The top 2 @AEW execs are brown (me & Megha)!! Jade, Bowens, Caster, Dante, Nyla, Isiah & Marq Quen all won on tv this month. The TBS Title Tournament has been very diverse. I let Swole’s contract expire as I felt her wrestling wasn’t good enough. #AEWRampage Street Fight TONIGHT!,” he wrote.

Swole continued to retweet posts throughout the day yesterday, but it wasn’t until this morning that she finally posted a tweet of her own. In it, she implored the wrestling community to listen intently to her podcast because she believes her words are being misunderstood.

“It’s Sunday, take time to actually listen to the podcast instead of reading headlines and excerpts. Understand diversity isn’t just a statistic, counting us/POC isn’t the mindset,” she writes. “Not one time did I ever mention anyone as racist. Comprehension is key.”

One AEW star that quickly reacted to the situation in frustration was Lio Rush, who demanded that Tony Khan apologize for his statement to Big Swole. But since that transpired, it looks as though Rush had a heart-to-heart with Tony Khan and has more optimism toward their process.

“I want this to be clear… I do not consider this to be a diversity issue, and I at no point have thought or said that AEW or Tony is racist,” Lio Rush writes. “We can all clearly see that wrestling as a whole and the AEW roster is perpetually diverse. The issue at hand was a racial insensitivity issue.

“Having spoken to Tony and Megah, we have discussed the endeavors to further understand the struggles of the black community. I am grateful to be able to understand more about Tony and Megah’s own ethnic backgrounds and glad that they are actively seeking input from an African American perspective. I am proud to work for a boss and company that try to make these strides in social equality,” Rush continues. “I look forward to working with Tony to keep making steps towards positive change. I pray that 2022 is a year of positive change in all aspects. Happy New Year and GOD BLESS. #BeTheChange”

Other AEW stars like Powerhouse Hobbs, Jade Cargill, & Shawn Dean also made statements concerning this ordeal. You can see their various statements at this link.

You can see the full tweets below:

*click here for full article

(WrestlingINC)