Move over Stan Kroenke. There’s about to be a new entrant to the World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires list. Make room for Ari Emanuel.
Endeavor and WWE announced Monday that they agreed to merge UFC and WWE to form a new company with a combined enterprise value of $21.4 billion. It will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TKO and Endeavor will own 51% and existing WWE shareholders will control 49%. Emanuel, the Endeavor CEO, will stay on to head the new company.
The UFC-WWE marriage would place second, behind Liberty Media and ahead of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, among the most valuable sports empires.
Liberty Media, whose sports-related assets include controlling stakes in MLB’s Atlanta Braves and the Formula 1 racing circuit, as well as minority stakes in the Drone Racing League, Kroenke Arena Co., Meyer Shank Racing and Overtime Sports, had an enterprise value of $20.8 billion in January. That number has risen to more than $22 billion today as the value of the Braves hit $2.6 billion in our MLB values last month, 24% more than the figure we used to derive our enterprise value for Liberty Media in January. Additionally, the enterprise value of Formula 1 is up 6%, to $18 billion, since the last empires list.
As for Kroenke, his primary sports assets consist of controlling stakes in the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, England’s soccer powerhouse Arsenal FC and Altitude Sports and Entertainment. The value of the Rams could be boosted by the pending sale of the Washington Commanders, and the value of all NBA teams could see an increase depending on the size of the the league’s next media deal, so either of those changes has the potential to lift Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and close the valuation gap with the new UFC-WWE tie-up.
The $21.4 billion is just a proposed valuation. The market, of course, will ultimately decide on the enterprise value of the new UFC-WWE company.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2023/04/03/ufc-wwe-deal-will-make-the-combined-company-the-worlds-no-2-most-valuable-sports-empire/