Nick Khan Defends WWE Ticket Price Hikes
WWE President Nick Khan has addressed the persistent rise in the company’s live event ticket prices, defending the new strategy as an appropriate adjustment to market demand. During a recent appearance on the TKO 2025 Third Quarter Financials Call, Khan was asked if the increased revenue was being driven more by higher prices or by higher attendance.
“It’s both,” Khan stated. “Capacity continues to be very high. We’ve increased prices appropriately with the marketplace. That’s for the PLEs, Raw, SmackDown, Saturday Night’s Main Event, and every other ticketed program that WWE has. We remain bullish on it.”
Khan explained that the price increases are part of a deliberate TKO strategy to create a more in-demand, premium product. This was achieved by reducing the number of non-televised live events (house shows), which in turn created “more scarcity in the marketplace” for WWE’s televised events.
He also noted that the company’s aggressive international expansion further contributes to this strategy, using the upcoming European tour as an example.
“In January, you’ll see us on a European tour for Raw and SmackDown, leading into Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Tickets (are) already on fire for that event and it creates more scarcity in the United States, which is a good thing in terms of our overall gauge.”
This new business model, which has been echoed by TKO COO Mark Shapiro, has drawn criticism from some former WWE stars. Veterans like MVP and Maven have argued that the company is “pricing out loyal fans.”
