WWE Interested in ‘Monetizing Ring Assets’ with Sponsorships

[Kemo]

Who will be walking down the KFC Deluxe Bucket ramp, stepping between the Castrol GTX-endorsed ropes to compete in the Wendy’s new 5-tier Baconator ring at WrestleMania 39?

WWE, like any business, is about making money, and sponsorships have been a huge part of the company’s bottom line for years.

At WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2021, fans saw a lumberjack match sponsored by Netflix’s Army of the Dead, in which ‘zombies’ from the film crashed the event.

At WWE Royal Rumble 2023, fans saw the first-ever Pitch Black match which was won by Bray Wyatt, and sponsored by Mountain Dew.

Last Saturday’s Rumble didn’t just see that match be sponsored, but the official Royal Rumble clock was sponsored by Applebees.

During WWE’s fourth-quarter earnings call, WWE CEO Nick Khan was asked whether WWE could possibly look at having sponsorships for different parts of the stage and ringside area.

“Yes, to your question about monetizing the ring assets. It’s something we’re taking a deep dive into now and that we want to do. In terms of what’s driven it, I think it all started with Stephanie McMahon and changing the culture of our sales group, from changing from a ‘maybe’ to a ‘yes.’

“When Mountain Dew and Pepsi pitched us the idea of sponsoring a match, I think it was done, was ‘absolutely we’ll do it,’ and then a conversation with Triple H, our head of creative, about ‘hey, we can probably do this, right?’ Which Triple H and our creative team made every accommodation to get it done.”

Earlier this week, WWE Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales and Partnerships Craig Stimmel told the Hollywood Reporter that another sponsored match will take place at WrestleMania 39.

[LionDen]

I am starting to feel WWE are trying to make as much money etc as possible to help make WWE look much better for a sale.