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WWE's revenue has risen steadily over the past five years, from $507.97 million in 2013 to $800.96 million in 2017, the highest in company history. The $71.74 million increase in revenue in 2017 represents a 10% year-over-year increase from 2016.
“We achieved record revenue that exceeded $800 million, record Adjusted OIBDA that was within the range of our guidance, and record subscriber levels," said George Barrios, WWE chief strategy and financial officer, who was recently promoted to co-president and appointed to WWE's board of directors alongside Michelle Wilson, WWE's chief revenue and chief marketing officer, as 2017 financials became public.
"As we continue to drive WWE’s digital and direct-to-consumer transformation while optimizing the monetization of our long-form content, we expect to balance 2018 OIBDA growth with investment in strategic areas, maximizing our long-term opportunities and shareholder value.”
North American revenue grew 6% — or $12 million — in 2017 thanks to higher television rights fees and the growth of WWE Network subscribers.
WWE Network averaged 1.53 million paid subscribers in 2017, up from 1.42 million in 2016, and financials show the network increased its net revenue from $180.9 million in 2016 to $197.9 million in 2017. Throughout the course of the year, WWE Network added nearly 300 hours of original content and more than 2,400 hours of archival content, bringing the on-demand library to approximately 9,400 hours of content.
Other television revenues increased as well, from $241.7 million to $270.2 million. WWE also completed multi-year distribution agreements in France, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Philippines and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Although North American live event revenues decreased 5% in 2017 — primarily because seven fewer events were staged than in 2016 — the loss was partially offset by a 4% increase in the average effective ticket price, to $54.70.
On the digital side, WWE's YouTube channel remained the most-viewed sports channel and the second-most-viewed channel on the platform, with 20 billion lifetime views as of Jan. 31, 2018. (For comparison's sake, the second-most-viewed sports channel has just 4.7 billion lifetime views.)
Retail sales were also strong in 2017 for WWE, which had the top-selling action figure property in the U.S. ahead of Star Wars and Marvel Avengers, according to NPD Retail Group.
As the company looks ahead to 2018, it expects to announce plans for future television distribution in the U.S. sometime between May 2018 and September 2018, as its distribution agreements with NBC Universal for both Raw and SmackDown will expire in 2019. With both programs routinely ranking among the highest-viewed shows on cable every week, optimism is high for what the next deal could look like — or what the programming could do for WWE Network one day.
This year will also see new show Miz & Mrs. debut on USA Network, and WWE plans to launch virtual reality experiences from select live events that will be available on a new WWE channel within the Next VR app.
