UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

__________________________________

Commission file number 001-16131

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

1241 East Main Street

Stamford, CT 06902

(203) 352-8600

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code,

of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of Securities Act.  Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes ☐   No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and postedpursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

(Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes ☐   No ☒

Aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant at June 30, 20172020 using our closing price on June 30, 20172020 was $770,348,077.$1,990,934,790.

As of February 6, 2018,2, 2021, the number of shares outstanding of the Registrant's Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, was 42,540,28846,736,044 and the number of shares outstanding of the Registrant's Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share, was 34,609,43831,099,011 shares.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant's definitive proxy statement for the 20182021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

* Incorporated by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 20182021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Proxy Statement”).

PART I

Item 1. Business

WWEWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company. We have been involved in the sports entertainment business for more than 35 years, and have developed WWE into one of the most popular brands in global entertainment today. We develop unique and creative content centered around our talent and present it via our subscription network (“WWE Network”), television, online and at our live events. At the heart of our success are the athletic and entertainment skills and appeal of our Superstars, and our consistently innovative and multi-faceted storylines. Our WWE Network, live and televised events, digital media, home entertainment, consumer products and feature films provide significant cross-promotion and marketing opportunities that reinforce our brands while effectively reaching our fans.

Based on the strength of the Company’s brands and its ownership and control over its intellectual property, the Company has been able to leverage its content and talent across virtually all media platforms. We continually evaluate additional opportunities to monetize new and existing content, including our WWE Network, which is available in all international markets other than embargoed countries. The launch of WWE Network has been transformative to WWE; for example, WWE Network carries all of our pay-per-view events, and its annual revenues now greatly exceed prior annual revenues of our pay-per-view business.

"WWE""WWE" refers to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. References to "we," "us," "our" and the "Company" refer to WWE. The initials "WWE" and our stylized and iconic "W" logo are two of our trademarks. This report also contains other WWE trademarks and trade names as well as those of other companies. All trademarks and trade names appearing in this report are the property of their respective holders.

We have been involved in the sports entertainment business for four decades, and have developed WWE into one of the most popular brands in global entertainment today. We are principally engaged in the production and distribution of unique and creative content through various channels, including the premium over-the-top subscription network (“WWE Network”), content rights agreements, pay-per-view event programming, filmed entertainment, live events, licensing of various WWE themed products, and the sale of consumer products featuring our brands. At the heart of our success are the athletic and entertainment skills and appeal of our Superstars, and our consistently innovative and multi-faceted storylines. Our distribution platforms provide significant cross-promotion and marketing opportunities that reinforce our brands while effectively reaching our fans.

Based on the strength of the Company’s brands and its ownership and control over its intellectual property, the Company has been able to leverage its content and talent globally across virtually all media platforms. We continually evaluate additional opportunities to monetize new and existing content, including WWE Network, which is available in all international markets other than embargoed countries. In this regard, we recently announced a multi-year agreement with Peacock TV LLC, an affiliate of NBC Universal (“NBCU”) which operates the Peacock paid streaming service (“Peacock”). This agreement grants, among other things, the exclusive domestic streaming and video-on-demand rights to WWE Network content via Peacock, as well as certain WWE Network subscriber data.

Our operations are organized around the following principal activities:

Media:

The Media Division:segment reflects the production and monetization of long-form and short-form video content across various platforms, including WWE Network, broadcast and pay television, digital and social media, as well as filmed entertainment. Across these platforms, revenues principally consist of content rights fees, subscriptions to WWE Network, and advertising and sponsorships. Effective March 18, 2021, the domestic monetization of WWE Network will be generated from content license fees and certain shared sponsorship revenues from NBCU.

Network

Television

Home Entertainment

Digital Media

Live Events:

Live events provide ongoing content for our media platforms. Live Event segment revenues consist primarily of ticket sales, including primary and secondary distribution, revenues from events for which we receive a fixed fee, as well as the sale of travel packages associated with the Company’s global live events. As a result of the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic (“COVID-19”), these revenues were greatly limited in 2020 and we expect this pattern to continue into 2021 for an indeterminate period.

Consumer Products:

The Consumer Products Division:segment engages in the merchandising of WWE branded products, such as video games, toys and apparel, through licensing arrangements and direct-to-consumer sales. Revenues principally consist of royalties and licensee fees related to WWE branded products, and sales of merchandise distributed at our live events and through eCommerce platforms.

Licensing

Venue Merchandise

WWEShop

WWE Studios:

Media

Media Division

(represents 64%, 63% and 65% of ourtotal net revenues in 2017,  20162020, 2019 and 2015, respectively)2018, respectively.

WWE Network

WWE Network launched onin February 24, 2014, becoming the first-ever 24/7 live streaming direct-to-consumer network. This subscription-based network is currently available in almost all international markets other than embargoed countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the Middle East, China and Australia, among others. Subscribers can access all of WWE’s live pay-per-view events, exclusive original programming and nearly 9,400over 13,000 hours of our video-on-demand library. The inclusion of our monthly marquis pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania, and the access to original content and live specials are critical components of the programming which drives our viewer engagement and satisfaction. WWE Network content includes exclusive original programming, including,Holy Foley, Bring it to the groundbreaking

documentaries, reality shows and WWE 24, as well as exclusive live in-ring specials, including our 2017 broadcasts of the U.K. Championship TournamentUndertaker: The Last Ride, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions and Mae Young Classic, and our live NXT Takeover specials, among others.WWE Untold. Our strategy of creating compelling original content for broadcast on WWE Network has contributed to the growth and acceptancepopularity of WWE Network, which premiered nearly 300350 hours of original content during 2017.  2020.

WWE Network is available on desktops and laptops via WWE.com. WWE Network is also available through the WWE App on Amazon Fire TV and Kindle Fire devices, Android devices, iOS devices, Apple TV, Roku streaming devices,select gaming consoles, computers, mobile devices, internet connected TVs, Blu-Ray players, Smart TVs, TiVo and Windows 10.popular digital media players. As of December 31, 2017,2020, WWE Network had 1,471,4001,469,700 paid subscribers as compared to 1,403,0001,391,000 paid subscribers at December 31, 2016,2019, representing a 5%6% increase in our subscriber base.  Following WrestleMania, WWE Network reached an all-time high of nearly two million subscribers. For domestic subscribers, the current subscription pricing of WWE Network is $9.99 per month with no minimum commitment, and new subscribers are currently offered a one-month free trial.  commitment.

Network subscription net revenues were $183.7 million, $168.3 million and $138.8 million, representing 23%, 23% and 21% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.    

Pay-Per-View Programming

Beginning in February 2014In connection with the launchnew multi-year agreement with NBCU beginning on March 18, 2021, the content licensed via Peacock will include WWE’s pay-per-view content, second runs of our in-ring television programming, original and archival content, as well as new WWE Network WWE’s monthly marquis pay-per-view events are included as part of the network subscription. Inclusion of these events as a part of the subscription to WWE Network has resulted in significant declines in our Pay-Per-View revenues, and this decline may continue with the ongoing growth and expansion of WWE Network.content.

Pay-per-views are live in eight languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, German, Hindi, English and on VOD in French.Core Content Rights Fees

Pay-per-view net revenues were $14.2 million, $12.6 million and $20.6 million, representing 2%,  2% and 3% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively. 

Television

Leveraging our expertise in live event television production, we currently produce fiveseven hours of original weekly domestic television programming, RAW, SmackDown and NXT, our core content. RAW and NXT are licensed domestically under multi-year contracts with NBCU, while SmackDown Live.  RAW and SmackDown Live areis licensed domestically under a multi-year contract with NBC Universal (“NBCU”).Fox Network. Second runs of RAW and SmackDown Liveare also available on WWE Network 30 days after the original first run airing dates on television.We also produce reality shows and other programming. Our televisionprogramming is distributed domestically and internationally. Our domestic television programs currently are: RAW on USA Network with replays on NBC Universo and Uni HD; SmackDown Live on USA Network with replays on NBC Universo; and Total Divas and Total Bellas on E! Network. WWE’s TV programs reach over 9 million viewers in the United States during the average week. USA Network, E! Network and NBC Universo are owned by NBCU.

The Company's domestic television agreements covering RAW and SmackDown Live are coterminous and expire in September 2019. The distribution of our Raw and SmackDown Live programs domestically is a key component of the Company's business and operations. Failure to secure distribution of these programs on terms favorable to the Company could have a material adverse impact on the Company's outlook, liquidity, business and operating results. We expect that, during 2018, we will negotiate a renewal of this main agreement with NBCU or will negotiate one or more new video content licenses with other distributors to replace it, although no assurances can be given as to this timeline.

RAW is a three-hour live primetime program which ranks among the most watched regularly scheduled programs on primetime cable television. RAW celebrated its 25th anniversary on January 22, 2018. It is remains the longest running weekly episodic program in primetime TVtelevision history, with more than 1,200over 1,400 original episodes, and anchors USA Network’s programming line-up, consistently helping make it the top-rated cable entertainment network.

Beginning in July 2016, SmackDown Live becameis a two-hour live showfor the first time ever and movedprimetime program airing on Fridays on Fox Network. SmackDown continues to Tuesdays on USA Network. In connection with this move, Raw and SmackDown Live each feature a distinct cast, unique storylines and a dedicated writing team. With more than 950 original episodes, SmackDown isbe the second longest running weekly episodic program in primetime TV history, second only to RAW.

Total Divas,NXT is a one-hour reality seriestwo-hour live primetime program airing on E!, was addedWednesday nights on USA Network. The weekly program continues to WWE's programming line-up in July 2013, and returned for its seventh season in November 2017. The reality based show explores life beyond the ring for several female WWE Superstars. Previous episodes of Seasons 1 through 5 are also replayedair on WWE Network shortly after the initial run on USA Network.

Total Bellas, a spinoff of the hit series, Total Divas, was added to WWE's programming line-up in October 2016, and launched a second season in September 2017. This reality based series airing on E! gives viewers exclusive access into the lives of The Bella Twins and their significant others, John Cena and Daniel Bryan. Previous episodes of Season 1 are also replayed on WWE Network.

WWE’s TV-PG, family-friendly television programming, including RAW and SmackDown, can be seen in 170 countries and more than 20900 million homes and in 28 languages around the world. Our international broadcast partners currently include: SkyBT Sport in the United Kingdom; Sony Ten Sports in India, Rogers Communication in Canada, and PPTVPP Sports in China, among many others.

Television net revenues were $270.2 million,  $241.7 millionAdvertising and $231.1 million, representing 34%, 33% and 35% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.Sponsorships

Home Entertainment

WWE distributes its home entertainment content in both physical (DVD and Blu-Ray) and digital formats. Content distributed through home entertainment channels has included themed compilations from the Company’s vast archives as well as releases of the Company’s pay-per-view events. Domestically, Warner Brothers Home Entertainment is the distributor of our home entertainment products. WWE’s home entertainment titles are generally sold through retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy and via digital outlets, such as iTunes, Amazon, and others. Outside the United States, third-party licensees distribute our home entertainment releases.

The gradual shift by consumers to digital formats downloaded or streamed over the Internet has negatively impacted our DVD and Blu-Ray sales. In addition, we believe the continued growth and expansion of WWE Network, which includes access to WWE’s video-on-demand library that includes many titles that are also available in DVD, Blu-Ray and digital formats, has contributed to the decline in our Home Entertainment sales. In 2017,  we released 24 new home video productions domestically and, in the U.S., shipped 1.3 million DVD and Blu-Ray units, including catalog titles released in prior years. This compares to 1.6 million DVD and Blu-Ray units shipped in the U.S. in 2016, in which year we released 24 new home video productions domestically.

Home entertainment net revenues were $8.6 million,  $13.1 million and $13.4 million, representing 1%, 2% and 2% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.

Digital Media

WWE utilizes the Internet and social media platforms to promote our brands, market and distribute our content and digital products, create a community experience among our fans and sell online advertising.advertising across these various platforms. WWE currently streams its videomedia content on select social media platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook. WWE surpassed 70 million subscribers on YouTube, and consistently ranks among the top viewed channels, on YouTube, with nearly 15over 21 billion views of WWE content in 2017.2020. The Company also receives advertising revenues from YouTube and Facebook based on viewership data of our content. In 2017,2020, WWE had 1.2over 1.3 billion social media fan engagements across social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr.

Our primary website, WWE.com, attracted an average of 13over 6 million monthly unique visitors worldwide during 2017.2020. These visitors viewed an average of 25767 million pages and 226 million video streams per month. WWE wallpapers, ringtones, voicetonesshort-form video and videos areother content is available through our mobile partnerships.

WWE currently has local language-based websites allowing fans to experience WWE in their native language with a concentration on local events and shows. Currently, the available languages are English, Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Polish and Arabic. We havemonetize our digital advertising inventory on WWE.com in global markets via programmatic ad sales and relationships with local sales agenciesagencies.

In addition, through our sponsorship packages, we offer advertisers a full range of our promotional opportunities, including online and print advertising, on-air announcements and special appearances by our Superstars. These opportunities allow our advertisers and sponsors to sell advertisingengage consumers across a variety of our platforms. In 2020, we grew several partnerships with blue-chip brands, including Hyundai, Mars, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Microsoft and Nestle Waters, and partnered with new advertisers, such as Constellation Brands, Foster Farms, Credit One and Progressive Insurance. Our sponsors promote their products utilizing our digital media assets, including promotion on WWE.com as well as promotion through WWE Network and through our live events. As part of our recently announced agreement with NBCU, sales of certain sponsorships on their platform will be shared by both parties.

Other

Our Media segment also generates revenue from the distribution of other WWE content, including, but not limited to, certain live in-ring programming content in international markets, scripted, reality and other programming, as well as theatrical and direct-to-home video releases.

Our reality-based television series currently includes Total Bellas,and Miz and Mrs. Total Bellas, a spinoff of our hit series, Total Divas, was added to WWE's programming line-up in October 2016, and launched a sixth season in November 2020. This reality-based series airing on E! gives viewers exclusive access into the lives of The Bella Twins and their family. Previous episodes of Seasons 1 through 5 are also replayed on WWE Network.

Miz & Mrs., a docuseries chronicling the lives of WWE Superstars The Miz and Maryse, premiered in July 2018 on USA Network. Following the success of the initial six episodes of this reality-based series, USA Network picked up 14 more episodes, which allowaired during 2019. Season 2 of the series premiered in January 2020. Previous episodes of Season 1 are also replayed on WWE Network.

WWE Studios is our multi-platform production company that develops and produces feature films, television (scripted, non-scripted), and digital content. In 2020, WWE Studios secured partnerships for films, animated content, unscripted formats, scripted series and documentaries on a partner to sell advertising across a regionvariety of countries.platforms, including Netflix, A&E, Universal Television and other domestic and international platforms.

Total Digital MediaLive Events

Live Events net revenues were $34.5$19.9 million, $26.9$125.6 million and $21.5$144.2 million, representing 4%2%, 4%13% and 3%16% of total net revenues in 2017,  20162020, 2019 and 2015,2018, respectively.

Live Events

(represents 19%, 20% and 19% of our net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively)

Our broad and talented roster of Superstars allows us to perform in numerous domestic markets and take advantage of the strong international demand for our events. Live events and the associated programming produced at our live events are our principal creative content and production activities. Our creative team develops compelling and complex characters and weaves them into dynamic storylines that combine physical and emotional elements. Storylines are usually played out in the ring and unfold on our weekly television shows, culminating in our monthly marquis events which air on WWE Network and are also available via pay-per-view.

The global spread of COVID-19 and the various attempts to contain it have resulted in restrictions, postponements and cancellations of various events, such as the relocation of WrestleMania 36 and the cancellation of ticketed events due to public health concerns. The impact of COVID-19 was significant on our live events segment, which is highly dependent on ticket sales at our live events. We expect this pattern to continue into 2021 for an indeterminate period as we continue to monitor the developments of COVID-19 and actively manage our business to respond to these and other potential impacts.

North American Ticket Sales

In 2017,2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we produced 31441 live events (excluding our NXT developmental division)NXT) throughout North America, entertaining 1.8 million259,000 fans at an average ticket price of $58.68.$53.46. We holdheld many of ourthese live events at major arenas across the country. In addition to providing content for our television and other programming, these events provide us with a real-time assessment of the popularity of our storylines and characters.

International Ticket Sales

In 2017, we produced 70 live events (excluding NXT) internationally, reaching 400,000 fans at an average ticket price of $77.83. These events were spread over several international tours throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Australia. 

Since launching NXT2020, as a separate liveresult of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to generate any ticket sales related to international events. We held one large-scale international event brand in 2013, it continues to grow into2020, for which we received a global touring brand. In 2017, we produced 188 global NXT events, reaching 152,000 fans at an average ticket price of $39.27.  These events include weekly taped broadcasts that are produced at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida and air on WWE Network, as well as live event specials, such as NXT: Takeover. Additionally, the NXT brand held various live events throughout the U.S., as well as an international tour in the United Kingdom.fixed fee.

Live eventsConsumer Products

Consumer Products net revenues were $151.7$86.1 million, $144.4$91.7 million and $124.7$102.6 million, representing 19%9%, 20%10% and 19%11% of total net revenues in 2017,  20162020, 2019 and 2015,2018, respectively.

Consumer Products DivisionProduct Licensing

(represents 14%, 15% and 15% of our net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively)

Licensing

We have established a worldwide licensing program using our marks and logos, copyrighted works and characters on a large variety of retail products, including toys, video games, toys, apparel and books. Currently, we have relationships with more than 200 licensees worldwide that provide products for sale at major retailers. To maintain the distinctive style and quality of our intellectual property and brand, we retain creative approval over the design, packaging, advertising and promotional materials associated with these products. Additionally, we continually seek new opportunities to partner with best-in-class organizations to develop new products for our fans and further expand our licensing business.

Video games and toys are the largest components of our licensing program. We have a comprehensive, multi-year licensing agreement with Mattel, Inc., our master toy licensee, covering all global territories, and a multi-year licensing agreement with Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two") who publishesto produce and sell our branded console video games. In partnership with Mattel, we launched a new girls’ product line, WWE Superstars, which featured the first-ever fashion dolls of our female Superstars. WWE branded video games currently include WWE 2Kand WWE Battlegrounds, available on PlayStation and XBOX platforms and on iOS and Android devices, and WWE SuperCard which is available on iOS and Android devices. In 2017, we launched two new mobile games, WWE Champions and TapMania, which are both available on iOS and Android devices. The video game industry continues to migrate the availability of video games astoward downloadable content through an Internet connected device. Accordingly, our video games can be downloaded via the Internet and also contain subsequent downloadable content that can be purchased to add additional characters and game modes to enhance game play.

Music is an integral part of the WWE entertainment experience. We compose and record most of our music, including Superstar entrance themes, in our recording studio. In addition to our own composed music, we license music performed by popular artists.

Licensing net revenues were $52.1 million, $49.1 millioneCommerce

WWEShop is our direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront. WWE merchandise is also distributed on other domestic and $48.9 million, representing 7%, 7%international e-commerce platforms, including Amazon. We processed 722,300 orders during 2020 as compared to 619,700 in 2019, driven, in part, by the release of new replica title belts and 7%changes in consumer spending habits as a result of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.COVID-19.

Venue Merchandise

Our direct-to-consumer venue merchandise business consists of the design, sourcing, marketing and distribution of numerous WWE-branded products such as t-shirts, belts, caps and other novelty items, all of which feature our Superstars and/or logos. These items

The impact of COVID-19 was significant on our venue merchandise results, which are offered for salehighly dependent on purchases of merchandise by consumers at our live events. We expect this pattern to continue into 2021 for an indeterminate period as we continue to monitor the developments of COVID-19 and actively manage our business to respond to the ongoing impacts.

VenueCustomers

Our customers include content distributors of our media content through their networks and platforms, fans who purchase tickets to our live events, purchase our merchandise net revenues were $23.8 million, $24.2 millionat venues or online through our eCommerce platforms and $22.4 million, representing 3%,  3%subscribers to WWE Network, advertisers and 3%sponsors, consumer product licensees, and film distributors/buyers. As noted elsewhere, we have several important partners, including NBCU and its affiliates who, among other things, carry the domestic television distribution of total net revenuesRaw and NXT, and, beginning in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.

WWEShop

WWEShop is our direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront. Additionally, WWE merchandise is distributed on otherNetwork content. We also partner with Fox Network who carries the domestic and international e-commerce platforms, including Amazon. Utilizing these platforms, we processed 818,600 orders during 2017 as compared to 771,500 in 2016.  

WWEShop net revenues were $37.8 million, $34.6 million and $27.1 million, representing 5%,  5%television distribution of SmackDown, and 4% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.

WWE Studios

(represents 2%, 1% and 1% of our net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively)

WWE Studios oversees the Company’s participation in the production and global distribution of filmed entertainment content, which may include movies for theatrical, home entertainment, and/or television release. The Company believes its movie business expands its brands by reaching new audiences and supports the Company’s investment in its Superstar talent.

Our WWE Studios business model focuses on the utilization of strategic partnerships, including production, distribution and acquisition relationships, to increase financial returns and mitigate risk. WWE utilizes its marketing and content platforms, especially its weekly presence on prime-time television, to support its movie projects.

In 2017, WWE Studios released nine films. Among the film projects, WWE Studios partnered with Blumhouse Productions to release The Resurrection of Gavin Stone,  Sleight and BirthGeneral Entertainment Authority of the Dragon via theatrical distribution. WWE Studios also partnered with Sony Pictures to release Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania and Marine 5: Battleground,  direct to DVD. In partnership with Warner Brothers Animation, WWE Studios released The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! direct to DVD. Additionally, WWE Studios produced Fighting With My Family, based on the true personal storyKingdom of WWE Superstar Paige and her family, which is scheduled to be released in theaters nationwide in September 2018.

WWE Studios net revenues were $18.6 million, $10.1 million and $7.1 million, representing 2%, 1% and 1% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively.

International 

Revenues generated outside of North America across allSaudi Arabia who, among other things, hosts our business segments were $201.3 million, $189.3 million and $169.8 million, representing 25%, 26% and 26% of total net revenues in 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively. Revenues generated in the United Kingdom, our largest international market, were $77.5 million, $78.5 million and $75.7 million for 2017,  2016 and 2015, respectively. During 2017,  approximately 70% of WWE content was consumed outside of the U.S., including localized programming, such as WWE Saturday Night in Mexico, WWE Sunday Dhamaal in India and Wal3ooha live events in the Middle East. Global expansion of WWE Network and television distribution continue to be the primary drivers of growth for our international business. 

See Note 19 of the consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information by segment and by geographic area. In addition, see the Risk Factors related to our international business set forth in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Creative Development and Production

Headed by our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon, our creative team develops compelling and complex characters and weaves them into dynamic storylines that combine physical and emotional elements. Storylines are usually played out in the ring and unfold on our weekly television shows, culminating in our monthly marquis events. We voluntarily designate the suitability of each of our television shows using standard industry ratings, and all of our in-ring television programming carries a PG rating, which is critical to maintaining the Company’s reputation for family friendly entertainment.

Our success is due primarily to the continuing popularity of our Superstars. We currently have approximately 200nearly 300 Superstars under exclusive contracts, ranging from multi-year guaranteed contracts with established Superstars to developmental contracts with our Superstars in training. Our Superstars are highly trained and motivated independent contractors, whose compensation is tied to the revenue that they help generate. We own the rights to substantially all of our characters and exclusively license the rights we do not own through agreements with our Superstars.

Talent Development

We continually seek to identify, recruit and develop additional talent for our business. Our development system, including the NXT division, which continues to grow in popularity, features developmental talent training to become WWE Superstars. NXTSuperstars and has produced approximately 80%over 85% of our current active main roster stars, such as Baron CorbinRoman Reigns, CarmellaSasha Banks, The Revival,  Nia JaxStreet Profits, Otis, and Shinsuke NakamuraBianca Belair. NXT has now evolved into our

third brand after Raw and SmackDown and has transitioned into a weekly live television series. Prior to COVID-19, NXT was also a global touring brand broadcasting live specials on WWE Network throughout the year. In 2017, we continued our focus on recruiting international talent, resulting in approximately 40%Network. Approximately 60% of our developmental talent comingcome from more than 20 countries outside the U.S., including the United Kingdom, China, India, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Brazil and Germany. Our international tryouts resulted in the signingWomen comprise approximately 30% of the first-ever female talent from India and the Middle East. our developmental talent. NXT talent train at our WWE Performance Center in Florida, a state-of-the-art training facility, which was designed to cultivate our next generation of talent and has become the center of our talent development program. In efforts to localize our content around the world, we opened the WWE UK Performance Center in January 2019, the first WWE training facility outside of the United States.

Competition

While we believe that we have a loyal fan base, the entertainment industry is highly competitive and subject to fluctuations in popularity, which are not easy to predict. For our live television, WWE Network, pay-per-viewevent and moviemedia content audiences, we face competition from professional and college sports, other live, filmed, televised and streamed entertainment, which includes other professional wrestling leagues, and other leisure activities. We compete with entertainment companies, professional and college sports leagues and other makers of branded apparel and merchandise. We will face increased competition from websites and mobile and other internet connected apps delivering paid and free content as streamed media offerings continue to expand. For purchases of our merchandise, we compete with entertainment companies, professional and college sports leagues and other makers of branded apparel and merchandise. Many companies with whom we compete have greater financial resources than we do.

Trademarks and Copyrights

Intellectual property is material to all aspects of our operations, and we expend substantial cost and effort in an attempt to maintain and protect our intellectual property and to maintain compliance vis-à-vis other parties’ intellectual property. We have a large portfolio of registered and unregistered trademarks and service marks worldwide and maintain a large catalog of copyrighted works, including copyrights in our television and WWE Network programming, music, photographs, books, films and apparel art. We also own a large number of internet website domain names and operate a network of developed, content-based sites, which facilitate and contribute to the exploitation of our intellectual property worldwide.

We vigorously seek to enforce our intellectual property rights worldwide by, among other things, searching the internet to ascertain unauthorized use, seizing counterfeit goods and seeking restraining orders and/or damages in court against individuals or entities infringing our intellectual property rights. Our failure or inability to curtail piracy, infringement or other unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights effectively, or our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights, could adversely affect our operating results.

Financial Information about SegmentsHuman Capital

See Note 19 ofThe human capital objectives we focus on in managing our business include attracting, developing, and retaining key personnel. Our employees are critical to the consolidated financial statements, which is included elsewhere in this Form 10-K, for financial information about eachsuccess of our segments.organization and the Company is committed to supporting our employees’ professional development. We believe our management team has the experience necessary to effectively implement our growth strategy and continue to drive shareholder value. We provide competitive compensation and benefits to attract and retain key personnel, while also providing a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. The Company develops personnel by offering in-house learning and development resources that include online and in-person training programs on a variety of topics, including topics that advance leadership skills.

Employees

As of February 2018, we had approximately 850We currently have over 900 full-time employees. This headcount excludes our Superstars, who are independent contractors. Our in-house production staff is supplemented with contract personnel for our television production.production who are not included in our headcount. We believe that our relationships withthe relationship between WWE and our employees is strong. Our employee headcount also excludes our Superstars and NXT talent, who are good. None of our employees are represented by a union.independent contractors.

Regulation

Live Events

In some United States and foreign jurisdictions, athletic commissions and other applicable regulatory agencies require us to obtain licenses for promoters, medical clearances and/or other permits or licenses for performers and/or permits for events in order for us to promote and conduct our live events. If we fail to comply with the regulations of a particular jurisdiction, we may be prohibited from promoting and conducting our live events in that jurisdiction. The inability to present our live events over an extended period of time, especially after the hiatus resulting from COVID-19, or in a number of jurisdictions could lead to a decline in the various revenue streams generated from our live events, which could adversely affect our operating results.

Television and WWE Network Programming

The marketplace for audio-visual programming (including cable television and Internet programming) in the United States and internationally is substantially affected by government regulations applicable to, as well as social and political influences on, television stations, television networks and cable and satellite television systems and channels. Certain Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) regulations such as closed-captioning, are imposed directly on the Company and/or indirectly through our distributors. Other domestic and foreign governmental and private-sector initiatives relating to video programming are announced from time to time. In addition, the delivery of WWE Network in international markets exposes us to multiple regulatory frameworks, the complexity of which

may result in unintentional noncompliance. One of our weekly television programs, SmackDown, is distributed via broadcast television on the Fox Network, and we are responsible, directly or indirectly, for compliance with certain additional FCC regulations and statutory requirements. Any failure by us to meet these governmental policies or regulations and private-sector expectations could restrict our program content and, in the case of government regulation, result in monetary liability. Such failure could also adversely affect our levels of viewership and/or number of WWE Network subscribers andsubscribers. Any of these could affect our operating results.

Available Information

Copies of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, are available free of charge on our website at http://corporate.wwe.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our reports are also available free of charge on the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov. The public may read and copy any materials filed by the Company with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. None of the information on any of our websites is part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and charters of our Audit, Compensation and our Governance and Nominating Committees are also available on our website. A copy of any of these documents will be mailed to any stockholder without charge upon request to us at 1241 East Main Street, Stamford, CT 06902, Attn: Investor Relations Department.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

There are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with our business that could adversely affect our operating performance and financial condition. Set forth below are descriptions of those risks and uncertainties that we currently believe to be material, but the risks and uncertainties described below are not the only risks and uncertainties that could affect our business. See the discussion under “Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the ‘Safe Harbor’ Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995” in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Risks Related to Our Industry and Business

The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may continue to negatively affect world economies as well as our industry, business and results of operations.

The global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the various attempts to contain it have resulted in restrictions, postponements and cancellations of various sports and other events and has and likely will continue to require us to cancel, postpone or relocate certain of our live events. We do not expect insurance to cover a significant portion, if any, of this lost business. The pandemic has also continued to create significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption, the full extent of which will depend on numerous evolving factors that we can neither predict nor control including the pandemic’s duration and severity and the governmental, business and individual responses to it. As a result, we have been required to alter certain aspects of our operations beyond our live events. We are unable to predict when our fans will return to live events, even when the pandemic risks and restrictions have lessened. We have also taken measures to protect the health and well-being of our employees and our talent and other vendors. Our workforce has spent a significant amount of time working from home. Travel has been severely curtailed. We have greatly increased our cleaning and health check protocols, which increase related expenditures. We also implemented certain cash conserving measures, which were or have been in effect for various time periods, including pausing our stock repurchase program and certain capital expenditures; containing employment costs through salary reductions and furloughs; containing certain third party vendor costs; and drawing under our revolving credit facility, which has since been repaid.

We believe our partners’ operations have also been affected including, without limitation, in their sales of advertising. If economic disruption becomes severe as a result of the pandemic, we could see supply constraints and/or a negative impact on our customers’ demand, or ability to pay (including an impact on the collectability of our accounts receivable), for our goods and services. We will continue actively to monitor the issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and may take further actions that alter our business operations as required by applicable governmental authorities and/or that we determine to be in the best interests of our employees, talent, customers, partners and stockholders. There can be no assurance that we will be entirely successful in these endeavors, which could result in inadvertent noncompliance with applicable law. The COVID-19 pandemic also could result in heightened litigation risks relating to personal injury or death and/or increased levels of commercial litigation. Any of the foregoing could have a material negative effect on our business and results of operations.

Our failure to maintain or renew key agreements could adversely affect our ability to distribute our videomedia content, WWE Network, our films and/or other of our goods and services, which could adversely affect our operating results. We expect to renegotiate or replace our major domestic television distribution agreement in 2018.

Our videomedia content is distributed by cable, satellite and broadcast television networks and digital platforms around the globe. We recently announced that WWE Network will be distributed exclusively via Peacock in the domestic market. As detailed below, we have depended on and, in international markets will continue to depend on, third parties for many aspects of the operation and distribution of WWE Network. Our films are generally also distributed by other, more established film companies. Because a large portion of our revenues are generated, directly and indirectly, from this distribution, any failure to maintain (such as due to a breach or alleged breach by either party) or renew arrangements with distributors and platforms, the failure of distributors or platforms to continue to provide services to us or the failure to enter into new distribution opportunities on terms favorable to us could adversely affect our financial outlook, liquidity, business and operating results. We regularly engage in negotiations relating to substantial agreements covering the distribution of our videomedia content by carriers located in the United States and abroad. We have a substantial relationshiprelationships with NBCU, as they distributewhich carries RAW and NXT through its cable networks, and will soon carry WWE Network via Peacock, and Fox Network, which carries SmackDown. We also have an important partnership with the vast majorityGeneral Entertainment Authority of our television programming domestically through their cable networks. This relationship constitutesthe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

These relationships are expected to continue to constitute a significant percentage of our revenues and the main agreement governing this relationship is currently set to expire in September 2019. We expect that, during 2018, we will negotiate a renewal of this main agreement with NBCU or will negotiate one or more new video content licenses with other distributors to replace it, although no assurances can be given as to this timeline.  The number of subscribers and ratings of cable television networks and advertising revenues in general have been reported as being impacted by viewers moving to alternative video content providers, a process known as “cord cutting” and “cord shaving”. Many well-funded digital companies have been competing with the traditional television business model and, while it has been widely reported that they are paying significant amounts for video content, it is not clear that these digital distributors will replace the importance (in terms of money paid for content, viewer penetration and other factors) of television distribution to video content owners such as WWE. For this or any other number of reasons, including those detailed elsewhere in these Risk Factors, the Company may not be able to renew or replace our principal domestic television distribution agreement on terms favorable to us. Any resulting loss of revenue could be substantial.  Moreover, to the extent that the price of the Company’s Class A Common Stock reflects market expectations of an improvement in future operating results due, in whole or in part, to this domestic video content negotiation, any failure to meet that market expectation could have a material adverse effect on our stock price.revenues. Many of our other goods and services, such as our toys, video games and home video offerings are manufactured and sold by other parties under licenses of our intellectual property or distribution agreements. Our inability for any of the reasons set forth in these Risk Factors to enter into, maintain and/or renew or replace, as the case may be, these agreements on terms favorable to us could adversely affect our financial outlook, liquidity, business and/or operating results.

Our failure to compete effectively in a rapidly evolving media landscape could adversely affect our operating results.

The manner in which audio/media content is distributed and viewed is constantly changing, and consumers have increasing options to access entertainment video. Changes in technology require Company has spent,resources including personnel, capital and plansoperating expenses. Conversely, technology changes have also decreased the cost of video production and distribution for certain programmers (such as through social media), which lowers the barriers to entry and increases the competition for viewership and revenues. While we attempt to distribute our programming across all platforms, our failure to continue to spend,do so effectively (including, for example only, our emphasizing a distribution platform that in time lessens in importance or becomes obsolete or our loss of, or other inability to procure, carriage on an important platform) could adversely affect our operating results. If other providers of video programming address the changes in consumer viewing habits in a manner that is better able to meet content distributor and consumer needs and expectations, our business could be adversely affected. The number of subscribers and ratings of television networks and advertising revenues in general have been reported as being impacted by viewers moving to alternative media content providers, a process known as “cord cutting” and “cord shaving”. Many well-funded digital companies have been competing with the traditional television business model and, while it has been widely reported that they are paying significant amounts for media content, it is not clear that these digital distributors will replace the importance (in terms of money paid for content, viewer penetration and other factors) of television distribution to media content owners such as WWE. Our media partners’ businesses are affected by their sale of advertising and subscriptions for their services. If they are unable to sell advertising and/or subscriptions either with regard to WWE programming specifically (such as, by way of example and without limitation, due to a decline in the popularity of our programming and/or brand) or all of their programing generally, it could adversely affect our operating results.

The Company spends substantial amounts to produce content, build infrastructure and market our WWE Network. If, for any number of reasons, we are unable to continue to develop and monetize this distribution platformcontent successfully, these additional costs, and the loss of very significant revenue,it could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

Need to Attract, Retain and Replace Subscribers.  Fans. We believe that WWE has a passionate fan base. However, the markets for entertainment video are intensely competitive and include many subscription, transactional and ad-supported models and vast amounts of pirated materials, all of which capture segments of the entertainment video market. These markets have and are expected to continue to be subject to rapid changes, and new technologies and evolving business models are developing at a fast pace. The Company expects this competition to continue to grow and the markets to continue to transform. Many players that have entered this space have vastly greater financial and marketing resources than the Company as well as longer operating histories, large customer bases and strong brand recognition. These competitors may secure better terms from suppliers, aggressively price their offerings and devote more technology and marketing resources. Offerings include subscription digital services from Amazon, CBS, ESPN, HBO, Hulu, MLB, Netflix, NFL Network, Nickelodeon, Showtime, YouTube and many others. Certain of these competitors have begun to bundle digital networks. Other competitors for viewers of videomedia content include broadcast, cable and satellite television, many of which have so-called “TV everywhere”, stand-alone streaming and/or “on demand” content, online movie and television content providers (both legal such as iTunes and illegal (pirated)), and ad-supported services such as YouTube and DVD rentals and sales.  ViewersYouTube. In non-pandemic times, viewers also commit viewing dollars to theatrical films, live events or other leisure activities. As previously disclosed, in domestic markets, WWE Network will be carried exclusively as a part of Peacock. Our ability to attract and retain subscribers tofans for WWE Network internationally (and for Peacock) will depend in part on our ability to provide consistent high qualityhigh-quality content and a high level of service that is perceived as a good value for the consumer’s entertainment dollars. Wedollars in the face of this intense competition with respectcompetition. Our failure to service levels, content offerings, pricing and related features, which may adversely impact our ability to attract and retain these subscribers. In addition, subscribers are allowed to cancel their subscriptions at any time and could do so for a number of reasons, including a perception that they do not use the service sufficiently, the need to cut household expenses, unsatisfactory content (whether as a result of change in consumer tastes or otherwise), competitive

entertainment at a lower price and customer service issues. This is commonly referred to as “churn.” Churn may be more pronounced in the periods following larger WWE events shown on WWE Network such as WrestleMania. We will need to add new subscribers continually both to replace subscribers who cancel and to growcould adversely affect our business. If too many of our subscribers cancel our service or if we are unable to attract new subscribers in sufficient numbers, our financial outlook, liquidity, business and operating results would be adversely affected.results.

Significant Ongoing Costs. WWE Network has and will continue to require significant capital expenditures, content cost (which is sometimes capitalized) and operating costs. Capital expenditures result in increased amortization and depreciation and may require impairment charges if the assets do not provide adequate results. We also intend to continue spending significant amounts on marketing, including promotional offerings to attract, retain and renew subscribers.marketing. Any and all such capital and operating costs, if not more than offset by revenues from WWE Network, could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Emerging Business.  We believe that we entered the market for subscription digital streaming at a relatively early stage. We believe acceptance of this type of service is growing among users, that our fans are technologically sophisticated and that the market is not saturated. We could, however, find that we are unable to remain competitive in this emerging industry for any number of reasons.  For instance, other new or more established players, many of whom have greater resources than we, could establish dominant positions in the market for this type of service. We could find that the growing number of offerings to consumers could limit subscribers for WWE Network due to market saturation. Alternatively, we could find that consumers choose to move away from subscription services generally. Under any of these scenarios, our ability to attract and retain subscribers will be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Reliance on Partners to Offer WWE Network.  We offer subscribersour Content. Fans have the ability to receive streaming WWE content through their PCs, Macs and other Internet-connected devices, including game consoles and mobile devices, such as tablets and mobile phones as well as smart televisions and Blu-Ray players. We intend to continue to offer WWE Network in international markets through available platforms and partners. WeAs a result, we rely on BAMTech Media ("BAMTech"), an outside contractor,partners to develop, supply and supplymaintain technology and infrastructure necessary to deliver our content and interact with the user. If we or Peacock are not successful in maintaining, renewing and/or replacing our relationship with BAMTechthis technology or if we or Peacock are not successful in entering into and maintaining relationships with platform providers, if the costs of maintaining these relationships increase materially, if we or our partners (including Peacock) encounter technological, licensing or other impediments to streaming our content, or if viewers either upgrade existing platforms or migrate to new platforms in such a way that we or our partners (including Peacock) do not or cannot deliver through the new or upgraded platform, our ability to competereach our fans and monetize our content successfully could be adversely impacted. Agreements with our platform providers are typically relatively short term in duration and our business could be adversely affected if, upon expiration, a partner does not continue to provide access to our service or is unwilling to do so on acceptable terms. Certain platforms, such as Amazon and Apple, offer their owned or licensed content as well as WWE Network and, therefore, may be disincentivized to promote and deliver WWE Networkour content at the same level as provided for their content.

Possible Disruption of Systems Utilized in Our Operations. Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our subscribersfans will depend on the reliable performance of computer and information systems and other technologies, including technology systems used in connection with the production and distribution of our computer systemsprogramming and those of third-parties that(including Peacock) with whom we utilizepartner in our operations. Interruptions in these systems, or with the Internet in general whether due to fault by any party or due to weather, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, power loss or other force majeure type events, could make our servicecontent unavailable or degraded or could otherwise hinder our ability to deliver content or cause WWE Network to fail completely. We do not maintain entirely redundant systems.degraded. These service disruptions or failures could be prolonged. Delivery of video programming over the Internet is done through a series of carriers with switch-overs between carriers, and any point of failure in this distribution chain would cause a disruption or degradation of our signal. Service disruption or degradation for any of the foregoing reasons could diminish the overall attractiveness of our subscription service to subscribers, causing us to lose subscribers and/or credit subscribers affected by such disruption.content. We do not carry insurance that would fully cover us in the event of mostmany types of business interruptionsinterruption that could occur at WWE Network.occur.

Our servers and those of third parties used in the distribution of WWE NetworkNetwork/Peacock may be vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, computer viruses (including worms, malware, ransomware and other destructive or disruptive software or denial of service attacks), physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions and could experience directed attacks intended to lead to interruptions and delays in our service and operations as well as loss, misuse, theft or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable Company or subscriber data or information. Such a cybersecurity attack, virus, break-in, disruption or attack could remain undetected for an extended period, could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations, be expensive to remedy, expose us to litigation and/or damage our reputation. Our insurance may not cover expenses related to such disruptions or unauthorized access fully or at all.

Technology Enhancements.  EnhancementsBecause the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to, or disable, degrade or sabotage, these systems and modifications to WWE Network technology from time to time become commercially necessary,servers change frequently and these consume considerable resourcesoften are not recognized until launched against a target, we and Peacock and the third parties used in capital and operating expenditures. If we aredistribution of our content may be unable to acquire, maintain and enhance the technology to manage the streaming of content to our subscribers inanticipate these techniques, implement adequate preventative measures or remediate any intrusion on a timely efficientor effective basis. Moreover, the development and user-friendly manner either through an outside party or ourselves, our abilitymaintenance of these preventative and detective measures is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to retain existing subscribers and to add new subscribers may be impaired. In addition, if our technology overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Despite the efforts of Peacock, WWE and/or that of third parties, we utilize in our operations fails or otherwise operates improperly, our ability to attract and/or retain subscribers or add new subscribers maythe possibility of these events occurring cannot be impaired. Also, any harm to our subscribers' personal computers or other devices caused by software used in our operations could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. We employ merchandising and search technology in WWE Network in an effort to maintain and increase member engagementeliminated.

with our service. We may experience difficulties in implementing refinements or interfaces that our subscribers enjoy or require, which could cause member dissatisfaction and negatively impact our business. 

Impact of Government Regulations. The adoption or modification of laws and regulations relating to the Internet or other areas of our business could limit or otherwise adversely affect the manner in which we conduct our business. The growth and development of the market for online commerce may leadhas led to more stringent consumer protection laws, which may imposeincluding privacy laws such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), imposing additional burdens on us. If we areWe may be required to comply with new regulations or legislation or new interpretations of existing regulations or legislation, thislegislation. This compliance could cause us to incur significant additional expense or alter our business model.model or could result in substantial fines, civil liability and/or harm to reputation for noncompliance. In addition, the delivery of WWE Network in international markets exposes us to multiple regulatory frameworks and societal norms, the complexity of which may result in unintentional noncompliancesnoncompliance which could adversely affect our business and operating results.

The adoption of any laws or regulations that adversely affect the growth, popularity or use of the Internet to access our programming, including laws and/or court decisions that have the effect of limiting Internet neutrality, could limit the demand for our subscription service and increase our cost of doing business.content via Peacock. The FCC had adopted an “Open Internet” Report and Order and accompanying rules, which addressed various practices of broadband Internet access providers. Those rules, in substantial part, were recently reversed by the FCC “Restoring Internet Freedom” DeclarationDeclaratory Ruling, Report and Order released in 2018, and replaced by what the FCC refers to as a “light-touch regulatory framework,” including modified customer transparency requirements. Numerous parties have indicated they will seek judicialPetitions for review of the FCC’s rulings and a number of states have alreadywere filed a petition for a review withby multiple parties. In October 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. No assurances can be given asColumbia (“D.C. Circuit”) largely affirmed the FCC’s 2018 Restoring Internet Freedom decision, though reversed the blanket preemption adopted by the FCC of state and local requirements that are inconsistent with FCC’s deregulatory approach and remanded to the outcome of such challenges.FCC to further consider three discrete issues. The FCC concluded in an order on remand that there was no basis to alter its conclusions in the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. To the extent that network operators engage in discriminatory practices, our business could be adversely impacted. As we expand internationally, government regulation concerning the Internet, and in particular, net neutrality, may be nascent or non-existent. Within such a regulatory environment, due to the political and economic power of local network operators, who may have interests that do not align with ours, we could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede our growth, cause us to incur additional expense or otherwise negatively affect our business.

Risks Relating to the Internet. We rely on the ability of WWE subscribersour fans to access our servicecontent through the Internet. Any point of failure within the Internet infrastructure, whether caused by network hackers, force majeure type events or otherwise, could have a significant adverse effect on WWE Network.effect. In addition, devices for accessing our content are manufactured and sold by entities other than the Company, and any transmission issues through these devices may result in consumer dissatisfaction with WWE Networkour content and adversely affect our business. Technology changes may require that platforms and/or subscribers update their devices and any failure to do so, or the failure of us or our distribution partners (including Peacock) to perform adequately through these updated devices could negatively affect our subscribers’fans’ enjoyment of WWE Networkour programming which would negatively affect our business. To the extent, in international markets, that network operators implement usage based pricing, including meaningful bandwidth caps, or otherwise try to monetize access to their networks

by data providers (such as through tiered access or pricing), due to the heavy bandwidth use of audio/visual content, we could incur greater operating expenses and our subscriber acquisition costs, and subscriber numbersbusiness could be negatively impacted.  Most network operators that provide consumers access to the Internet also provide consumers audiovisual programming. As a result, these companies have an incentive to use their network infrastructure in a manner adverse to our success. With the reversal of the FCC’s Open Internet Report and Order discussed above, to the extent network operators are able to provide preferential treatment to their traffic or otherwise implement discriminatory network management practices, WWE Network could be negatively impacted and it could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In international markets, these same incentives apply and consumer demand, regulatory oversight and competition may not be as strong of a check on these practices as they are in domestic markets.

We Are Subject to Intellectual Property Risks. From time to time, third parties allege that we have violated their intellectual property rights. In connection with WWE Network, ifIf we and/or our service providerspartners (including Peacock) are unable to obtain sufficient rights, successfully defend the use, or otherwise alter business practices in a timely manner in response to claims for infringement, misappropriation, misuse or other violation of third-party intellectual property rights, our business could be adversely affected. Many companies devote significant resources on patents relating to various aspects of streaming services. For example, there are numerous patents that broadly claim means and methods of conducting business on the Internet and we and/or our service providers have from time to time been named in lawsuits and other claims alleging violations of patents in connection with various aspects of our business. We have not searched patents relative to our technology. While we believe we have managed this process successfully to date, defendingDefending against intellectual property claims, whether they are with or without merit, can result in costly litigation and diversion of personnel. These types of claims could result in our inability to use technology as currently configured for WWE Network or as we configure it in the future and could significantly impact our operation andthe monetization of the service. As a result of this type of dispute, we and/or our service providers could also be required to develop non-infringing technology, make royalty or damage payments, enter licensing agreements, adjust merchandising or marketing activities or take other actions to resolve the claims, any of which could be costly or unavailable on acceptable terms.content.

International Offerings. We have made our U.S. based WWE Network available in international markets other than embargoed countries. We are not currently offering different content in different countries internationally and we may find that our United States product does not resonate with consumers in other nations. International expansion also entailsmarkets entail greater infrastructure and differing legal and regulatory environments. Other risks relating to foreign operations could include difficulties and costs associated with staffing and managing foreign operations, management distraction, new and different sources of competition, compliance with U.S. and international

laws relating, among other things, to bribery, less favorable foreign intellectual property laws, laws relating to repatriation of funds, lower levels of Internet availability, complexity of VAT and other local tax laws, and data protection (including the new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which becomes effective May 25, 2018)GDPR), consumer protection, censorship, licensing and other regulatory matters. If we are not able to manage the growing complexity of our international operations, our business could be adversely affected.

Marketing Efforts May Not Be Successful.  We intend to continue to spend significant amounts on marketing, including promotional offerings and data analytics, to attract, retain and renew subscribers domestically and internationally. We generally provide a promotion of one month free access to WWE Network for new subscribers.  If companies we use to promote WWE Network believe that we could negatively impact their business, decide that they want to enter similar businesses or wish to support our competitors, we may not be given access to suitable marketing channels. We may decide not to use certain marketing sources or activities if they are, or are perceived by us to be, ineffective. If adequate marketing channels are not available or are too costly, for any reason, our ability to attract new subscribers, and/or our operating costs, may be adversely affected.

We May Be Liable for Fraudulent Payment Transactions.  Even when the associated financial institution approves the payment of fees for WWE Network subscribers, from time to time, fraudulent payment methods are used to obtain the service. We do not carry insurance for these fraudulent transactions.

If We  Are Not Able to Manage Change and Growth, Our Business Could Be Adversely Affected.  We are expanding our operations internationally and scaling our streaming service to enable anticipated growth in both subscribers and features related to our service.  Internationally, we are also subject to divergent and complex consumer customs and practices. This growth adds complexity to virtually every aspect of our business, including WWE Network, and if we are not able to manage this growing complexity, including improving, refining or revising our systems and operational practices, business may be adversely affected.

Our failure to continue to build and maintain our brand of entertainment could adversely affect our operating results.

We must continue to build and maintain our strong brand identity to attract and retain fans who have a number of entertainment choices. The creation, marketing and distribution of live events, programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and films that our fans value and enjoy is at the core of our business. The production of compelling live, televised, streamed and film content is critical to our ability to generate revenues across our media platforms and product outlets. Also important are effective consumer communications, such as marketing, customer service and public relations. The role of social media by fans and by us is an increasingly important factor in our brand perception. If our efforts to create compelling services and goods and/or otherwise promote and maintain our brand, services and merchandise are not successful, our ability to attract and retain fans may be adversely affected. Such a result would likely lead to a decline in our television ratings, attendance at our live events the number of WWE Network subscribers, our film viewershippost-pandemic, and/or otherwise impact our sales of goods and services, which would adversely affect our operating results.

Our failure to retain or continue to recruit key performers could lead to a decline in the appeal of our storylines and the popularity of our brand of entertainment, which could adversely affect our operating results.

Our success depends, in large part, upon our ability to recruit, train and retain athletic performers who have the physical presence, acting ability and charisma to portray characters in our live events, video programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and films. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to continue to identify and train these performers. Additionally, throughout our history, performers from time to time have stopped working for us for any number of reasons, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to retain our current performers either during the terms of their contracts or when their contracts expire. Our failure to attract and retain key performers, an increase in the costs required to attract and retain such performers, or a serious or untimely injury to, or the death of, or unexpected or premature loss or retirement for any reason of, any of our key performers could lead to a decline in the appeal of our storylines and the popularity of our brand of entertainment. Scheduling conflicts for talent services may also affect certain productions. Any of the foregoing issues could adversely affect our operating results.

A decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment, including as a result of changes in the social and political climate, could adversely affect our business.

Our operations are affected by consumer tastes and entertainment trends, which are unpredictable and subject to change and may be affected by changes in the social and political climate. Our programming is created to evoke a passionate response from our fans. Changes in our fans’ tastes or a material change in the perceptions of our business partners, including our distributors, sponsors and licensees, whether as a result of the social and political climate or otherwise, could adversely affect our operating results.

The unexpected loss of the services of Vincent K. McMahon could adversely affect our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results.

In addition to serving as Chairman of our Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. McMahon leads the creative team that develops the storylines and the characters for our programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and live events. From time to time, Mr. McMahon has also been an important member of our cast of performers. The loss of Mr. McMahon due to unexpected retirement, disability, death or other unexpected termination for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results. Mr. McMahon has recently announced that he established Alpha Entertainment LLC, to explore investment opportunities across the sports entertainment landscapes, and Alpha Entertainment LLC has announced plans to launch a professional football league. While he has provided the Company assurances that his focus on WWE will not be diverted by these efforts, any such diversion or perception

Changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives could adversely affect our businesses.

Production of video programming by independent producers is generally not directly regulated by the federal or state governments in the United States. However, under FCC regulations in many instancesSmackDown is on broadcast television on the Fox Network and we are responsible, directly or indirectly, for closed captioning ourcompliance with certain additional FCC regulations and statutory requirements applicable to programming distributed over television and internet programming and anybroadcast stations. Any failure to remain in compliance with these regulationsrequirements could expose us to substantial costs and adverse publicity.publicity which could impact our operating results. Changes in FCC regulations, and the ongoing reallocation of satellite spectrum for “5G” next generation wireless broadband use, could impact the availability of satellite transmission spectrum for video programming distribution, which could increase the transmission costs of certain of our programming and/or affect transmission quality and reliability. The markets for programming (including television and WWE Network programming) in the United States and internationally may be substantially affected by government regulations applicable to, as well as social and political influences on, television stations and networks. We voluntarily designate the suitability of each of our television and WWE Network programs using standard industry ratings. Domestic and foreign governmental and private-sector initiatives relating to the production and distribution of video programming are announced from time to time. Any failureCompliance by us to meetour licensees of these initiatives and/or their noncompliance of governmental policies and/or private-sector expectations could restrict our program contentdistribution and adversely affect our levels of viewership, and/or the number of WWE Network subscribers, result in adverse publicity and/or otherwise impact our operating results.

The markets in which we operate are intensely competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented, and we may not be able to compete effectively, especially against competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace presence, which could adversely affect our operating results.

We face competition for our audiences from professional and college sports, as well as other forms of live and televised, streamed and filmed entertainment and other leisure activities in a rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented marketplace. The manner in which audio/video content is distributed and viewed is constantly changing. Changes in technology require Company resources including personnel, capital and operating expenses. Conversely, technology changes have also decreased the cost of video production and distribution for certain programmers (such as through social media), which lowers the barriers to entry and increases the competition for viewership and revenues. While we attempt to distribute our programming across all platforms, our failure to continue to do so effectively (including, for example only, our emphasizing a distribution platform that in time lessens in importance or becomes obsolete or our loss of, or other inability to procure, carriage on an important platform) could adversely affect our operating results. If other providers of video programming address the changes in consumer viewing habits in a manner that is better able to meet content distributor and consumer needs and expectations, our business could be adversely affected. For the sale of our consumer products, we compete with entertainment companies, professional and college sports leagues and other makers of branded apparel and merchandise. Many of the companies with whom we compete have substantially greater financial resources than we do. Other new and existing professional wrestling leagues also compete with our goods and services. Our failure to compete effectively could result in a significant loss of viewers, subscribers, venues, distribution channels or performers and fewer entertainment and advertising dollars spent on our form of sports entertainment, any of which could adversely affect our operating results.

We face uncertainties associated with international markets, which could adversely affect our operating results and impair our business strategy.

We are consistently negotiating and entering into new agreements and renewals and extensions of existing agreements for our products and services in international markets. In late 2014, we began making available our U.S. based WWE Network is available in all international markets.markets except where embargos preclude it. In 2018, WWE embarked on an important long-term partnership with the General Entertainment Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for, among other things, a series of live events in that region. We periodically held talent tryouts overseas pre-pandemic and have a training facility in the United Kingdom. Cultural norms and regulatory frameworks vary in the markets in which we operate and our products' nonconformance to local norms or applicable law, regulations or licensing requirements could interrupt our operations or affect our sales, viewership and success in the markets. Our production of live events overseas in non-pandemic times subjects us to numerous risks involved in foreign travel and operations and also subjects us to local norms and complex regulations (including visa obligations). In addition, these live events and the licensing and/or sale of our goods and services in international markets expose us to some degree of currency risk. International operations may be subject to political instability inherent in varying degrees in those markets.markets, terrorism and wars. Other risks relating to foreign operations include difficulties and costs associated with staffing and managing foreign operations, management distraction, new and different sources of competition, compliance with U.S. and international laws relating to, among other things, bribery, less favorable foreign intellectual property laws, laws relating to repatriation of funds, lower levels of Internet availability, complexity of VAT and other local tax laws, and data protection, consumer protection, censorship, licensing and other regulatory matters.matters as well as possible reputational risks. The GDPR which becomes effective May 25, 2018 will applyapplies to certain of our operations. The GDPR’soperations, and its provisions are far reaching and noncompliancereaching. Noncompliance with GDPR could result in significant fines,

operational issues and/or harm to reputation. The United Kingdom’s withdrawal of its membership from the European Union (referred to as “Brexit”) could complicate international matters including financial, legal, tax and trade implications. While we have committed significant financial and personnel resources toward the planning and initial implementation phases,compliance, no assurances can be provided that our efforts will be entirely successful. These risks could adversely affect our operating results and impair our ability to pursue our business strategy as it relates to international markets, which could adversely affect our business.

We may be prohibited from promoting and conducting our live events if we do not comply with applicable regulations, which could lead to a decline in the various revenue streams generated from our live events, which could adversely affect our operating results.

In some United States and foreign jurisdictions, athletic commissions and other applicable regulatory agencies require us to obtain licenses for promoters, medical clearances and/or other permits or licenses for performers and/or permits for events in order for us to promote and conduct our live events. Foreign jurisdictions require visas for personnel and talent at international live events. In international markets, third party promoters generally oversee permitting and regulatory matters. In the event that we fail to comply with

the regulations of a particular jurisdiction, whether through our acts or omissions or those of our third partythird-party promoters, we may be prohibited from promoting and conducting our live events in that jurisdiction. TheIn non-pandemic times, the inability to present our live events in jurisdiction(s), in addition to the lost revenues and expenses of the missed event(s), could lead to a decline in various revenue streams in such jurisdiction(s), which could adversely affect our operating results.

Because we depend upon our intellectual property rights, our inability to protect those rights, or our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights, could adversely affect our business.

Intellectual property is material to all aspects of our business. We have a large portfolio of registered and unregistered trademarks, service marks, copyrighted material and characters, trade names and other intellectual property rights worldwide. We also own a large number of Internet website domain names and operate a network of developed, content-based sites, which facilitate and contribute to the exploitation of our intellectual property worldwide. We expend substantial cost and effort in an attempt to maintain and protect this intellectual property and to maintain compliance with other parties’ intellectual property. Our failure to curtail piracy, infringement or other unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights effectively, or our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights, could result in litigation, damage our brand or adversely affect our relationships with the companies that distribute our goods and services, any orof which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

While we generally own the intellectual property in our content, we generally do not own any intellectual property relating to the distribution of this content including through WWE Network. From time to time, third parties allege that we have violated their intellectual property rights. If we are unable to obtain sufficient rights, successfully defend our use, develop non-infringing technology or otherwise alter our business practices in a timely manner in response to claims against us for infringement, misappropriation, misuse or other violation of third-party intellectual property rights, our business and competitive position may be adversely affected. Many companies devote significant resources on patents relating to many aspects of our business including WWE Network. For example, there are numerous patents that broadly claim means and methods of conducting business on the Internet, and from time to time we have been named in lawsuits and other claims alleging that we violated patents in connection with various aspects of our business. We have not searched patents relative to our technology. While we believe we have managed this process effectively to date, defending ourselves against intellectual property claims, whether they are with or without merit can result in costly litigation and diversion of personnel. These type of claims could result in our inability to use our technology as currently configured or as we configure it in the future and could significantly impact our ability to market our services or merchandise our products. As a result of this type of dispute, we could also be required to develop non-infringing technology, make royalty or damage payments, enter into licensing agreements, adjust our merchandising or marketing activities or take other actions to resolve the claims, any of which could be costly or unavailable on acceptable terms.

Our distribution mechanisms for our goods and services are increasingly complex across various distribution platforms, various geographical areas and timing windows.

Our inadvertent grant of inconsistent rights to our intellectual property, goods and/or services or allegations of such inconsistent grants could result in claims of breach of our distribution agreements or licenses and/or result in litigation which could adversely impact our operations.

We could incur substantial liability in the event ofrelating to accidents or injuries occurring during(or insurance relating thereto) arising out of our physically demanding events.

We hold numerous live events each year. This schedule exposes our performers and our employees who are involved in the production of those events to the risk of travel and performance-related accidents, the consequences of which are not fully covered by insurance. The physical nature of our events exposes our performers to the risk of serious injury or death. Although our performers, as independent contractors, are responsible for maintaining their own health, disability and life insurance, we self-insure medical costs for our performers for injuries that they incur while training and performing. We also self-insure a substantial portion of any other liability that we could incur relating to such injuries. In certain states, notably California and New York, legislative changes have been enacted or are contemplated that draw into question our ability to treat our talent as independent contractors in those states. The impact to the Company of these initiatives is unknown. If ultimately required, worker’s compensation insurance for our talent or other aspects of their treatment as employees in those states could add expense to, or otherwise alter, our operations, which could affect our business, financial condition and/or results of operations. Liability to us resulting from any death or serious injury sustained by one of our performers while performing, to the extent not covered by our insurance, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

As noted below, we are the defendant in litigation claiming that professional wrestling as currently and historically performed by us has resulted inperformers sustained significant injuries to our performerswhile performing for the Company including, but not limited to, chronic traumatic encephalopathy or "CTE".brain injuries.

Our live events entail other risks inherent in public live events, which could lead to disruptions of our business as well as liability to other parties, any of which could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

We hold numerous large live events each year, both domestically and internationally. Certain risks are inherent in events of the type we perform as well as the travel to and from them, and we are required to expend substantial resources on safety matters such as security. Risks of travel and large live events include air and land travel interruption or accidents, the spread of infectious disease or other illness, injuries resulting from building problems, pyrotechnics or other equipment malfunction, terrorism or other violence, local labor strikes and other force majeure type events. These issues could result in personal injuries or deaths, canceled events and other disruptions to our business for which our business interruption insurance may be insufficient.insufficient or nonexistent. Any of these occurrences also could result in liability to other parties for which we may not have insurance. Any of these risks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or results of operations.

We continue to face certain risks relating to our feature film business, which could result in higher production costs and asset impairment charges, which could adversely affectaffecting our financial condition or our results of operations.

We have substantial capitalized film costs. The accounting for our film business in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles entails significant judgment used to develop estimates of expected future revenues from films. If expected revenue from one or more of our films does not materialize because audience demand does not meet expectations, our estimated revenues may not be sufficient to recoup our investment in the film. If actual revenues are lower than our estimated revenues or if costs are higher than expected, we may beare required to record an impairment charge and write down the capitalized costs of the film. No assurance can be given that we will not record additional impairment charges in futureany periods. In addition, capitalized film costs are reflected net of certain production tax

incentives granted by various governmental authorities. Our ability to realize these credits may be limited by changes in the laws and regulations relating to the incentives and/or the economic environment. The inability to realize these credits would have the effect of increasing our overall production costs.

In addition to the risks noted above relating to WWE Network, weWe could face a variety of risks if we expand into other new and complementary businesses and/or make certain investments or acquisitions.

We have entered into new or complementary businesses and made equity and debt investments in other companies in the past and plan to continue to do so in the future. We may also enter into business combination transactions, make acquisitions or enter into strategic partnerships, joint ventures or alliances. As previously noted, we recently entered into a multi-year agreement with Peacock pursuant to which WWE Network will become a part of Peacock on an exclusive basis domestically. Risks of this expansion and/or these investments and transactions may include, among other risks: unanticipated liabilities or contingencies including counter-party risks such as inadvertent breaches or collection difficulties; potential diversion of management’s attention and other resources, including available cash, from our existing businesses; unanticipated liabilities or contingencies; reduced earnings due to increased amortization; loss on investments due to poor performance by the business invested in; inability to successfully integrate a new business;business successfully; revaluations of debt and equity investments as well as market, credit and interest-rate risks (any of which could result in impairment charges and other costs); competition from other companies with more experience in such businesses; and possible additional regulatory requirements and compliance costs, all of which could affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We face various risks relating to our computer systems and online operations, which could have a negative impact on our financial condition or our results of operations.

The Company faces the risk of a security breach or disruption, whether through external cyber intrusion or from persons with access to systems inside our organization. The Company commits significant personnel and financial resources to maintain the security of its computer systems, including implementing various measures to monitor and manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, and to plan for the mitigation of losses if such breach or disruption were to occur. There can be no assurance that these security efforts will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging or that the Company would be promptly aware of them or able to mitigate damages from them, if any such breach or disruption were to occur. The Company also utilizes third party service providers in several aspects of its operations, (including WWE Network), and these third parties are also subject to risks of security breach or disruption. The Company is not able to assure the effectiveness of security among our service providers. The Company and certain of its third partythird-party service providers receive personal information through web services including WWE Network. In many instances thisservices. This information is generally subject to the Company's privacy policies. Personal information received by our service providers includes credit card information in certain instances, most notably WWE Network, our live event merchandise sales and WWEShop, the Company's internet retail operations.instances. The Company expends significant effort to ensure compliance with its privacy policy and to ensure that our service providers safeguard credit card information including contractually requiring those providers to remain compliant with applicable PCI Data Security Standards. However, a significant security breach or other disruption involving the computer systems of the Company or one or more of its service providers could disrupt the proper functioning of these systems and therefore the Company's operations (for which we likely will not carry sufficient insurance); result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information; require significant management attention and resources to remedy the damages that could result (if, in fact, they can be remedied), and subject

the Company to litigation or damage to its reputation. Implementation ofThe GDPR, CCPA and/or similar laws passed in the GDPRfuture, may enhance this risk. Any or all of these could have a negative impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Our businesses entail certain risks relating to privacy norms and regulations.

We and our business partners collect certain data supplied by our fans including WWE Network subscribers.fans. We utilize this data in certainvarious ways including our marketing efforts. We face complex legal obligations domestically and internationally regarding the manner in which we treat and use such information, including, without limitation, the GDPR which will become effective May 25, 2018.  Certain of theseand CCPA. These legal obligations including the GDPR, carry substantial monetary penalties if breached. Unintentional noncompliance by us or our partners of these regulations could have an adverse effect on our business. If we were to disclose or use data about our fans in a manner that is objectionable to them or is contrary to applicable law, our business reputation could be adversely affected. Weaffected and it could also face potential legal claims thatresult in litigation, either or both of which could impact our operating results.

Our accounts receivable relate principally to a limited number of distributors, licensees, and other partners increasing our exposure to bad debts and counter-party risk which could potentially have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Substantial portions of our accounts receivable are from distributors of our programming; hosts/promoters of our live events (pre-pandemic); and licensees who produce consumer products containing our intellectual property. The concentration of our accounts receivable across a limited number of parties subjects us to individual counter-party and credit risk as these parties may breach our agreement, claim that we have breached the agreement, become insolvent and/or declare bankruptcy, delaying or reducing our collection of receivables or rendering collection impossible altogether. Certain of the parties are located overseas which may make collection efforts more difficult (including due to increased legal uncertainty) and, at times, collections may be economically unfeasible. Adverse changes in general economic conditions and/or contraction in global credit markets could precipitate liquidity problems among our

debtors. This could increase our exposure to losses from bad debts and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks relating to our new leased space.

The Company has signed a lease for space in downtown Stamford, Connecticut, in which it plans to house substantially all our operations, including our corporate headquarters and media production facilities. The scope of this project has changed somewhat, and the move is now expected to begin in late 2022. The buildout of this space will involve substantial capital expenditure, and it could take longer, and cost more, than currently expected. Significant delays and/or cost overruns would result in higher expenditures and could be disruptive of operations, any of which could have a negative impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations. Moreover, it is possible that, once built, the space may prove to be less conducive to the Company’s operations than is currently anticipated, resulting in operational inefficiencies or similar difficulties that could prove difficult or impossible to remediate and result in an adverse impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.

We could incur substantial liabilities if litigation is resolved unfavorably.

The Company has been named as a defendant in lawsuits alleging, among other things, that the Company ignored, downplayed, and/or failed to disclose the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries allegedly suffered by WWE’s performers. One such suit also alleges that the Company misclassified its talent as independent contractors rather than employees. The Company strongly disputes the merit of this type of case and moved to dismiss the lawsuits. These lawsuits have all been dismissed by the trial court. Plaintiffs have attempted to appeal these dismissals. If any of these dismissals are reversed on appeal, the Company plans to continue to defend itself vigorously (including, if necessary, opposing class certification in the two cases filed as putative class actions). In the ordinary course of business, we become subject to various other complaints and litigation matters.

By its nature, the outcome of litigation is difficult to assess and quantify, and its continuing defense is costly. Any adverse judgment or settlement could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Risks Related to Markets Generally

A decline in general economic conditions or disruption of financial markets may, among other things, reduce the discretionary income of consumers or erode advertising markets, which could adversely affect our business.

Our operations are affected by general economic conditions, including consumers’ disposable income, which has a direct material impact on the demand for entertainment and leisure activities. Declines in general economic conditions could reduce the level of discretionary income that our fans and potential fans have to spend on our live events, programming, (including WWE Network), films and consumer products, which could adversely affect our revenues. Volatility and disruption of financial markets could limit the ability of our sponsors, licensees and distributors to obtain adequate financing to maintain operations and result in a decrease in sales volume that could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our television partners derive revenues from the sale of advertising. We also sell advertising directly on our website on WWE Network and, depending upon the distribution methods used to monetize additional content, we may have additional advertising to sell. We sell sponsorship packages to our live events and certain other of our services. Softnessservices, and we will continue to participate in such sponsorship sales with Peacock on its platforms. Continued softness in the advertising markets due to a weak economic environment, the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, could adversely affect our revenues or the financial viability of our distributors.

Risks Related to Our accounts receivable represent a significant portion of our current assets and relate principally to a limited number of distributors and licensees, increasing our exposure to bad debts which could potentially have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.Indebtedness

Substantial portions of our accounts receivable are from distributors for WWE Network, pay-per-view, television and home video programming and from licensees who produce consumer products containing our intellectual property. The concentration of our accounts receivable across a limited number of distributors and licensees subjects us to individual credit risk with respect to these parties who could become insolvent or declare bankruptcy, rendering collection impossible. Certain of the parties are located overseas which can make collections more difficult and, at times, economically unfeasible. Additionally, adverse changes in general economic conditions and/or contraction in global credit markets could precipitate liquidity problems among our debtors, including our key distributors and/or licensees. This could increase our exposure to losses from bad debts and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Servicing our debt willmay require a significant amount of cash, and we could have insufficient cash flow from operations or lack of access to sources of financing to meet these obligations and/or our other liquidity needs.

Our total consolidated debt, including the $200.0$215.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.375% convertible senior notes due 2023 that the Company issued in a private offering in December 2016 (the "Convertible Notes"), is significant. In January 2017, pursuant to the exercise of an over-allotment option, an additional $15.0 million aggregate principal amount of the Convertible Notes was issued. We also have availability under our $100.0$200.0 million revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Credit Facility"). Through certain of our subsidiaries, the Company also has in place a term loan secured by the Company’s jet and a real estate mortgage in the principal amount of $23.0$22.1 million secured by the related real estate (the “Asset-Backed Facilities”).

We believe we have sufficient liquidity for at least the next twelve months for our needs (including the payment of our dividend). However, our ability to make scheduled principal and interest payments on the Convertible Notes and under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Asset-Backed Facilities and any other indebtedness that may be outstanding at the time will depend on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control, including the items described elsewhere in these Risk Factors. OurIt is possible our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and provide for all our other uses of cash including capital and operating expenditures and paying our dividend. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow, we could be required to adopt one or more alternatives which, assuming they are, in fact, available, could be onerous, dilutive or otherwise affect our operations and/or the market price of our Common Stock. Such alternatives

could include, for example, substantially reducing our cost structure, selling assets, reducing or eliminating our dividend, and/or obtaining additional debt or equity capital and/or refinancing/replacing the indebtedness.financing. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities on desirable terms or at all due to our then existing financial condition, market conditions, regulatory matters or contractual obligations (including, for example, any restrictions under our Revolving Credit Facility or other credit agreement or debt instruments that may exist at that time).

Any failure to make a required payment under our indebtedness may constitute a default under that indebtedness and under other indebtedness due to cross-default provisions and could trigger acceleration clauses causing the obligations to become immediately due and payable. The occurrence of one or more of these risks could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the Convertible Notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.

Under ASC 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options, an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the Convertible Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the Convertible Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the value of the equity component would be treated as original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Convertible Notes. As a result, we will be required to record a greater amount of non-cash interest expense in current periods presented as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of the Convertible Notes to their face amount over the term of the Convertible Notes. We will report lower net income in our financial results because ASC 470-20 will require interest to include both the current period’s amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the Convertible Notes.

In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Convertible Notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash are currently accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the Convertible Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, are issued. We cannot be sure that the accounting standards in the future will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, then our diluted earnings per share would be adversely affected. Conversion of our Convertible Notes and the exercise of related Warrants may cause economic dilution to our stockholders and dilution to our earnings per share.

We could incur substantial liabilities if litigation is resolved unfavorably.Risks Related to Our Stock Ownership

The Company has been named as a defendant in lawsuits alleging, among other things, that performers received traumatic brain injuries while performing for the Company and may have CTE. One such suit also alleges that the Company misclassified its talent as independent contractors rather than employees. The Company strongly disputes the merit of this type of case and moved to dismiss the lawsuits, which were consolidated for most purposes. Several of the claims have been dismissed, and the Company has moved to dismiss or for summary judgment on all remaining claims. If our current dispositive motions are not granted, or if any dismissals are reversed on appeal (once an appeal can be taken), the Company plans to continue to defend itself vigorously (including, if necessary, opposing class certification in the two cases filed as putative class actions).  In the ordinary course of business we become subject to various other complaints and litigation matters.

By its nature, the outcome of litigation is difficult to assess and quantify, and its continuing defense is costly. Any adverse judgment or settlement could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

The final impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could be materially different from our current assessment.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”), which was signed into law on December 22, 2017, makes significant changes to the taxation of U.S. business entities. These changes include a permanent reduction to the federal corporate income tax rate.  The Tax Act required a remeasurement of our deferred tax asset and a recognition of $11.3 million of expense in the fourth quarter of 2017.  The Tax Act is expected to have a favorable impact on our effective tax rate and net income as reported under generally accepted accounting principles both in the first fiscal quarter of 2018 and subsequent reporting periods.  However, we are still assessing the impact of the Tax Act and there can be no assurances that it will have a favorable impact.  In addition, any future federal or state law tax changes, whether arising from actual or perceived loss of tax revenue to the taxing authority due to the Tax Act or otherwise, could materially and adversely impact our results from operations.

Failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance could adversely affect the market price and volatility of our stock.

We believe that the price of our stock generally reflects certain market expectations for our future operating results, including expectations for a substantial improvement in operating results due, in whole or in part, to the upcoming domestic television negotiation.results. Any failure to meet or delay in meeting these expectations, including as a result of the domestic television negotiation, the failure of

WWE Network to achieve expected subscriber numbers or as a result of any otherthe events, conditions and/or circumstances set forth in these Risk Factors could cause the market price of our stock to decline significantly.

Through his beneficial ownership of a majority of our Class B common stock, Mr. McMahon can exercise control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock.

We have Class A common stock and Class B common stock. The holders of Class A common stock generally have rights identical to holders of Class B common stock, except that holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share, and holders of Class B common stock are entitled to ten votes per share. Holders of both classes of common stock generally will vote together as a single class on all matters presented to stockholders for their vote or approval, except as otherwise required by applicable Delaware law.

A substantial majority of the issued and outstanding shares of Class B common stock is owned beneficially by Vincent K. McMahon and, as a result, he controls a majority of the voting power of our common stock and can effectively exercise control over our affairs. His interest could conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock. McMahon’s voting control could discourage or preclude others from initiating potential mergers, takeovers or other change of control transactions. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline.

Our dividend is significant and is affected by a number of factors.factors and we cannot provide any guaranty that we will continue to repurchase shares of our common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program.

Our Board of Directors regularly evaluates the Company’s Common Stock dividend policy and determines the dividend rate each quarter. The level of dividends, if any, will continue to be influenced by many factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, our strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual

and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant from time to time. All of these factors are subject to the various contingencies listed in the other Risk Factors included in this Form 10-K. We cannot assure our stockholders that dividends will be paid in the future, or that, if paid, dividends will be at the same amount or with the same frequency as in the past. Any reduction in our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our stock price.

In February 2019, the Company announced a $500 million stock repurchase program pursuant to which we are authorized to repurchase shares of our common stock at management’s discretion and subject to applicable laws. We have repurchased $83.4 million of common stock to date and all share repurchases have been retired. This program is subject to the same risk factors as those influencing our dividend. The Company’s dividend distributions have in recent years represented a returnshare repurchase program does not obligate us to repurchase any set dollar amount or number of capital for tax purposes,shares and shareholdersmay be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time, and it was suspended throughout 2020, largely as a result will recognize an increased capital gain upon a subsequent sale of the Company’s Common Stock.

COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, no assurances can be provided as to when, if at all, the Company will resume repurchases or complete this repurchase program at any specific time or at all. The Company’s aggregate dividend distributions paidcontinued suspension or termination of our share repurchase program could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Additionally, the existence of a share repurchase program could cause the market price of our common stock to be higher than it would be in 2014the absence of such a program. As a result, any repurchase program may not ultimately result in enhanced value to our stockholders and 2013 were in excess of its current and accumulated earnings and profits calculated under applicable Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) provisions. This may not prove to be the case for 2018, as well, due to the recently enacted federal tax law changes. Under the IRC, distributions in excessbest use of both the Company’s current earnings and profits and the Company’s accumulated earnings and profits constitute a return of capital and reduce the stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in its Common Stock. If a stockholder’s adjusted basis in its Common Stock is reduced to zero, these excess distributions thereafter constitute a capital gain to the stockholder.our cash resources.

A substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by Mr. McMahon and members of his family or trusts established for their benefit, and the sale of those shares could lower our stock price.

All of the issued and outstanding shares of Class B common stock are held by Vincent McMahon and other members of his family including certain trusts set up for family members. Sales of substantial amounts of these shares, or the perception that such sales could occur, may lower the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock. If any sales or transfers of Class B common stock are made to persons outside of the McMahon family, the shares automatically convert into Class A common stock.

OurThe market for our Class A common stock is volatile and has a relatively small public "float."volatile.

The price at which our common stock has traded has fluctuated significantly, especially in the past two years. The price may continue to be volatile due to a number of factors beyond our direct control, including our number of WWE Network subscribers, operating results (especially where different from the expectations of securities analysts, investors and the financial community), market volatility in general and short interest in our stock. Given the dynamic nature of our business and all other factors that limit the predictability of the future, any of our forecasts, outlook or other forward-looking statements could differ materially from actual results which could cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock.

Historically,Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

Our headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut. During 2019, we entered into a long-term lease for a new global headquarters site in Stamford. We expect to move into the new location in phases upon completion of leasehold improvements. We currently own our existing headquarters building, as well as two nearby buildings in Stamford that support our television production operations. We also have leases in the Stamford and surrounding areas for additional corporate office spaces and warehouse storage space. Upon completion of our move to the new global headquarters, we expect to sell our owned and operated corporate facility, exit our leased spaces, and will evaluate options for our television production studio facilities based on strategic, operating and financial considerations. In addition, we have leases for our Performance Centers located in Orlando, Florida and the United Kingdom, which are used for development and training activities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we utilized our Orlando Performance Center for approximately nine months during 2020 to produce and broadcast our weekly televised live events and our monthly pay-per-view events. We also have leases for various sales offices located domestically and internationally. All of our facilities are utilized by our Media, Live Events and Consumer Products segments.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Information with respect to this item may be found in Note 15, Commitments and Contingencies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 15, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not Applicable.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information and Holders of Each Class of Common Equity

Our Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "WWE". Our Class B common stock is not listed on any exchange.

There were 6,818 holders of record of Class A common stock and three holders of record of Class B common stock on February 2, 2021. Vincent K. McMahon, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, controls a substantial majority of the voting power of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock, and as a result, can effectively exercise control over our affairs.

Our Class B common stock is fully convertible into Class A common stock, on a one for one basis, at any time at the option of the holder. The two classes are entitled to equal per share dividends and distributions and vote together as a class with each share of Class B entitled to ten votes and each share of Class A entitled to one vote, except when separate class voting is required by applicable law. If, at any time, any shares of Class B common stock are beneficially owned by any person other than Vincent McMahon, Linda McMahon, any descendant of either of them, any entity which is wholly owned and is controlled by any combination of such persons or any trust, all the beneficiaries of which are any combination of such persons, each of those shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock.

Dividends

Our Board of Directors regularly evaluates the Company’s Common Stock dividend policy and determines the dividend rate each quarter. The level of dividends will continue to be influenced by many factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, our strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our Revolving Credit Facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant from time to time. We cannot assure our stockholders that dividends will be paid in the future, or that, if paid, dividends will be at the same amount or with the same frequency as in the past. Any reduction in our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our stock price.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table presents information with respect to purchases of common stock of the Company made during the three months ended December 31, 2020 pursuant to the Company’s authorized share repurchase program:

(1)On February 7, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $500.0 million of our common stock. Repurchases may be made from time to time at management’s discretion subject to certain pre-approved parameters and in accordance with all applicable securities and other laws and regulations. The stock repurchase program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any minimum dollar amount or number of shares and may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time. All repurchased shares were subsequently retired.

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Cumulative Total Return Chart

Set forth below is a line graph comparing, for the period commencing December 31, 2015 and ended December 31, 2020, the cumulative total return on our Class A common stock compared to the cumulative total return of the Russell 2000 Index and S&P Movies and Entertainment Index, a published industry index. The graph assumes the investment of $100 at the close of trading as of December 31, 2015 in our Class A common stock, the Russell 2000 Index and the S&P Movies and Entertainment Index and the reinvestment of all dividends.

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following selected consolidated financial data have been derived from our Consolidated Financial Statements. You should read the selected financial data in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes and the information set forth under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained elsewhere in this report.

Financial Highlights:(in millions, except per share data)

(1)Operating income includes $7.0 million of severance expenses associated with a reduction in our workforce as a result of COVID-19.

(2)Operating income includes impairment charges on our content production assets of $4.9 million (See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

(3)Operating income includes $5.6 million of expenses related to non-recurring legal matters and other contractual obligations and impairment charges on our content production assets of $5.5 million.

(4)Total debt includes $389.5 and $343.4 million of finance lease obligations as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. Total debt also includes $194.7 million, $188.7 million, $183.1 million and $177.9 million of convertible senior notes outstanding as of December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019 is presented below. Discussions of fiscal 2019 items and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found under Item 7 of Part II of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the SEC on February 7, 2020.

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report.

Our operations are organized around the following principal activities:

Media:

The Media segment reflects the production and monetization of long-form and short-form video content across various platforms, including WWE Network, broadcast and pay television, digital and social media, as well as filmed entertainment. Across these platforms, revenues principally consist of content rights fees associated with the distribution of our programming content, subscriptions to WWE Network, and advertising and sponsorships.

Live Events:

Live events provide ongoing content for our media platforms. Live Event segment revenues consist primarily of ticket sales, including primary and secondary distribution, revenues from events for which we receive a fixed fee, as well as the sale of travel packages associated with the Company’s global live events.

Consumer Products:

The Consumer Products segment engages in the merchandising of WWE branded products, such as video games, toys and apparel, through licensing arrangements and direct-to-consumer sales. Revenues principally consist of royalties and licensee fees related to WWE branded products, and sales of merchandise distributed at our live events and through eCommerce platforms.

Results of Operations

The Company presents Adjusted OIBDA as the primary measure of segment profit (loss). The Company defines Adjusted OIBDA as operating income before depreciation and amortization, excluding stock-based compensation, certain impairment charges and other non-recurring material items. Adjusted OIBDA includes depreciation and amortization expenses directly related to supporting the operations of our segments, including content production asset amortization, depreciation and amortization of costs related to content delivery and technology assets utilized for WWE Network, as well as amortization of right-of-use assets related to finance leases of equipment used to produce and broadcast our live events. The Company believes the presentation of Adjusted OIBDA is relevant and useful for investors because it allows investors to view our segment performance in the same manner as the primary method used by management to evaluate segment performance and make decisions about allocating resources. Additionally, we believe that Adjusted OIBDA is a primary measure used by media investors, analysts and peers for comparative purposes.

Adjusted OIBDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and may be different than similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. A limitation of Adjusted OIBDA is that it excludes depreciation and amortization, which represents the periodic charge for certain fixed assets and intangible assets used in our business. Additionally, Adjusted OIBDA excludes stock-based compensation, a non-cash expense that may vary between periods with limited correlation to underlying operating performance, as well as other non-recurring material items. Adjusted OIBDA should not be regarded as an alternative to operating income or net income as an indicator of operating performance, or to the statement of cash flows as a measure of liquidity, nor should it be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. We believe that operating income is the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to Adjusted OIBDA.

Unallocated corporate general and administrative expenses largely relate to corporate functions such as finance, legal, human resources, facilities and information technology. These unallocated corporate general and administrative expenses will be shown, as applicable, as a reconciling item in tables where segment and consolidated results are both shown.

Summary

In December 2019, an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted global supply chains and created significant volatility and disruption of financial markets. COVID-19 has resulted in restrictions, postponements and cancellations of various events, such as the relocation of WrestleMania 36 and the cancellation of ticketed events due to public health concerns. The impact of COVID-19 to our 2020 results had a greater impact on our live events and consumer products segments, which are highly dependent on ticket sales and purchases of merchandise by consumers at our live events. Our Media segment was impacted to a lesser extent since a large portion of these revenues are derived from contractual rights fees from our domestic and international distribution arrangements, as well as subscriber fees from WWE Network. We continue to deliver the weekly wrestling content associated with these arrangements (e.g. RAW, SmackDown and NXT) without ticketed live audiences, and continue to provide programming on WWE Network. We will monitor the developments of COVID-19 and actively manage our business to respond to the potential impacts. Additionally, please refer to Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, which provides a discussion of risk factors related to COVID-19.

Year Ended December 31, 2020 compared to Year Ended December 31, 2019

(dollars in millions, except where noted)

The following tables present our consolidated results followed by our Adjusted OIBDA results:

(1)Our consolidated net revenues increased by $13.8 million, or 1%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. This increase was driven by $189.7 million in incremental core content rights fees revenues primarily associated with the October 2019 renewal of our key domestic distribution agreements of our flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown. This increase was partially offset by $112.8 million of lower ticket and merchandise sales from our live events due to the cancellation of ticketed events, coupled with the absence of a second large-scale international event, both due to public health concerns as a result of COVID-19. Additionally, $11.3 million of incremental ecommerce revenues driven by increased orders were mostly offset by a reduction in revenues of $10.3 million driven by the timing of our reality-based programming. For further analysis, refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of our business segments.

(2)Our consolidated operating expenses decreased by $88.7 million, or 14%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. This decrease was primarily driven by $81.8 million of lower event related and content creation costs due the cancellation of ticketed events and the absence of a second large-scale international event resulting from COVID-19. 2020 also includes $9.7 million of lower production costs associated with the timing of our reality-based programming, $5.8 million of lower costs associated with the delivery of content to WWE Network, and the impact of various short-term cost reductions that were implemented as a result of COVID-19. These declines were partially offset by an increase of $10.8 million in management incentive compensation costs. For further analysis, refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of our business segments.

(3)Our consolidated marketing and selling expenses decreased by $13.4 million, or 16%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. This decrease was primarily driven by $5.7 million of lower advertising and promotional costs due to the cancellation of ticketed events resulting from COVID-19, coupled with a decline of $2.4 million in management incentive compensation costs. 2020 also includes the impact of various short-term cost reductions that were implemented as a result of COVID-19. For further analysis, refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of our business segments.

(4)Our consolidated general and administrative expenses increased by $15.3 million, or 18%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. This increase was primarily driven by $9.2 million of additional staff related costs due, in part, to $7.0 million of severance expenses associated with the reduction in our workforce as a result of COVID-19, coupled with $3.7 million of higher legal expenses resulting from ongoing litigation. For further analysis, refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of our business segments.

(1)Other adjustments in 2020 include severance expenses associated with a reduction in our workforce as a result of COVID-19.

Media

The following tables present the performance results and key drivers for our Media segment:

(1)Core content rights fees consist primarily of licensing revenues earned from the distribution of our flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown, as well as our NXT programming, through global broadcast, pay television and digital platforms.

(2)Other revenues within our Media segment reflect revenues earned from the distribution of other WWE content, including, but not limited to, certain live in-ring programming content in international markets, scripted, reality and other programming, as well as theatrical and direct-to-home video releases.

(3)Metrics reflect subscribers who are direct customers of WWE Network and estimated subscribers who subscribe to WWE Network under licensed partner agreements, which have different economic terms for WWE Network.

Media revenues increased by $125.1 million, or 17%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. Our core content rights fees increased by $189.7 million, or 54%, driven primarily by the October 2019 renewal of our key domestic distribution agreements of our flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown. This increase was partially offset by a decline in Other revenues of $58.6 million, or 43%, driven by the absence of a second large-scale international event due to COVID-19, coupled with $10.3 million related to the timing of our reality-based programming. Media revenues also reflected lower sales of advertising and sponsorships of $7.1 million, or 10%, primarily driven by fewer television sponsorships and talent appearances as a result of COVID-19.

Media Adjusted OIBDA as a percentage of revenues increased in 2020 as compared to 2019. This increase was driven by increased revenues of $189.7 million, primarily due to the renewals of our key domestic distribution agreements, partially offset by decreased revenues driven by the absence of a second large-scale international event. Additionally, Media Adjusted OIBDA includes $13.9 million of lower content creation costs, primarily due to the absence of a second large-scale international event, and $5.8 million of lower costs associated with the delivery of content to WWE Network, partially offset by and an increase of $7.5 million in management incentive compensation costs.

Live Events

The following tables present the performance results and key drivers for our Live Events segment: