WWE Sold?

[Prime Time]

Not looked into it in much detail but plenty of rumours swirling online that Vince McMahon has returned and already sold the company to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. That's the same fund that essentially bought Newcastle United Football club here in the UK a little over a year ago.

Anyway, perhaps people with more knowledge of this could fill in some of the gaps I've left here...

[Nodqfan]

It appears that the Saudis buying the WWE story is untrue for now. Yet everybody from Reddit to Twitter was reporting it as a done deal last night. It wouldn't surprise me if it was leaked to drive up the price for potential buyers.

[PEN15v2]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Team Farrell]

I mean, the sale is going to happen. I tend to lean toward the idea that Vince's whole goal is to find someone who will buy it and install him at the top.

The people who were with him in the room have said that they went public because in his mind it made them legitimate, and seeing WWE traded on the NYSE would make the company's perception that much bigger in the eyes of the "real world". Yes, it made him an obscene amount of money, but a big part of it was perception. It's the same reason that WWE will always run the big NBA arena in town, even if they're not selling them out. It's perception.

Now, those same people, the ones who were in the room when the decision was made to go public, are the ones saying that he realized that had the company been private, none of what came out would have mattered, and he wouldn't have had to leave.

A Saudi sale would be dangerous. I can definitely see it as being something he spoke to them about during his time away. But this week will hopefully have showed them that it's a poor choice.

Comcast would be the obvious choice with their history and the money they're already paying WWE, but are they going to want to install Vince on top with all of his issues and will he go for that? A lot of people are hot on Endeavor. They bought UFC and it's been decent for them. But, UFC was a $4b leveraged purchase and it put them in a panic for a little bit. They might not want deja vu of that.

The sale is happening. It's not happening to Tony Khan, it's not happen to Amazon or Netflix or Apple, and it's very likely not happening to FOX. Comcast, Endeavor, Saudi PIF or maybe a consortium put together by someone who's got a history in wrestling are the only realistic options at this point.

[Prime Time]

That sounds pretty much like what has come out in the last few days, though with some people not so quick to rule out Netflix/Amazon. Though I agree, they'd be a weird fit.

Certainly seems like Vince has decided now is the time and it's just a case of getting a deal done. Crazy few weeks though.

[Team Farrell]

I lean away from Amazon and Netflix. Amazon could afford it, but it doesn't feel like WWE fits with their brand and what they offer.

Netflix is reportedly trying to get into live sports, but I don't think that it currently has the infrastructure in place to offer live programming, and I'm not sure they'd be interested in taking on the debt necessary to finance it.

I could see Netflix making a bid on rights, if that's even a thing that happens this time around, but not on the whole shebang.