TKO COO Sees 'Tremendous Upside' On WWE Ticket Prices, Reveals Plans To Cut Back Further On Live Events

Despite its multi-billion dollar broadcast deals and worldwide fanbase, WWE still prides itself on its live experience.

Outside of weekly TV and monthly ‘premium live events’, WWE hosts myriad non televised house shows although the amount of these shows they run has been cut down drastically over the last several years.

TKO COO Mark Shapiro spoke on WWE’s live experience at the JP Morgan Annual Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference, noting how the company intends to further reduce the house show schedule:

"We cut those house shows down to where now we're doing 200 events a year. We cut them 75%, the number of house shows that we do. We feel that's a good place to be and we'll continue to prune as we go through. WWE has tremendous upside on global partnerships. Tremendous upside on ticket pricing. Tremendous upside on site fees, dynamic pricing, yield management. All areas we're really focusing and pushing in on as it related to live events. As you saw on our first quarter, our margins significantly expanded as it relates to WWE live events," said Shapiro.

Shapiro’s comments on ticket pricing - especially dynamic pricing - might make for uncomfortable reading, with high-ticket price live events across all forms of entertainment receiving backlash from fans who have been priced out. Randy Orton even commented on high prices for WWE WrestleMania 41 tickets, calling it ‘embarrassing’ how much fans were being charged to attend.

H/T: Fightful

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