In its first year as an independent public company, TKO Group Holdings has brought strong revenue growth and healthy profits. Now it is expected to stymie that growth in 2025, and there are many large deals on the horizon.
TKO reported fourth quarter revenues Wednesday afternoon, adjusting topline revenue of $642.2 million, net income of $47.5 million, EBITDA adjusted to $238.1 million, with significant growth in the UFC offsetting the decline in WWE (decrease from media rights transition, and more below). UFC revenues increased by $343.9 million, a 22% increase, while WWE revenues fell by 10% to $298.3 million.
That decline was due to WWE Raw’s migration from USA Network to Netflix. With Netflix deal kick-off last month (after signing a new deal with USA for SmackDown in 2024), WWE may have seen a continuous growth in rights fees over the years.
In fact, TKO has forecast revenues for 2025 to $293-3 billion, with adjustments to EBITDA of between $1.35-139 billion. In particular, these forecasts do not include revenue from some companies the company will soon acquire.
Last fall, the company agreed to acquire many other efforts, including IMG, to location and professional bull riders in a $3.25 billion stock deal. The transaction is expected to close in a “close period” before the end of the first quarter.
And 2025 is becoming a huge deal to trade beyond effort. TKO notes that it is in the midst of the right to negotiate with the UFC ESPN and that if the exclusive window expires, it can lead Dana White Led MMA promotions to the open market. We will also hold discussions on domestic rights to WWE Premium Live events such as WrestleMania and Royal Rumble.
And while UFC and WWE remain the company’s top priorities, President Mark Shapiro told analysts on TKO revenue call on Wednesday afternoon, the company is also chasing another business, boxing.
Citing the huge success of Netflix’s Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight, Shapiro confirmed that TKO is approaching the boxing business.
“We have a boxing audience. And there’s a lack of boxing on platforms around the country, and there’s a desire to get it back to the forefront of the American sports ecosystem. It’s broken for too long. It’s fragmented. Shapiro held a meeting with Saudi representatives earlier this week, and they’re “awfully close” to the deal, Shapiro said.
“We’re going to tell you that we’re close to our agreement with Saudi Arabia on the creation of a boxing league where TKO is a producer, promoter and responsible for all the daily operations of the venture. “We don’t put capital in…and there’s also some gained equity over time, especially over five years. But that will depend on us achieving certain milestones.”
TKO was founded in the fall of 2023 and combined the promotion of UFC’s mixed martial arts with WWE, betting that corporate synergy, aggressive rights negotiations, clean balance sheets and stories would drive the company’s stock price.
Earlier on Wednesday, TKO announced the “Takeover” in Kansas City, Missouri, and announced that PBR, UFC and WWE events will be held over the long weekend in April.
“TKO delivered record financial performance in 2024 at both the UFC and WWE.
“We’re the best team in the industry, the dynamic audience we serve, and the people we bring together.”
Ariel Emanuel, executive chair and CEO of TKO. “In the next year, we will focus on conservation
UFC’s long-term US domestic media rights agreement, and WWE’s premium live event.
Integrate IMG into your portfolio with location and professional bull riders. I’ll create more
A compelling live event. Run a robust capital return program for shareholders. ”
