WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

Case Synopsis
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced in January
2017, that its WWE Network was planning to crown its first
ever WWE United Kingdom Champion. This push to cater to
local markets was one way WWE was trying to deal with
worldwide competition from other mixed martial arts
disciplines such as the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Even
given the growth in other markets, the consensus was that
WWE didn’t have much to worry about in the short run.
Vince McMahon had taken over a small wrestling business
from his father and built it into a large national business. For
years, the firm managed to show consistent growth by
attracting more and more fans. In an effort to diversify, shortly
after going public in 1999, WWE launched an eight-team
football league called the XFL. Unfortunately, the football
venture did not prove successful and resulted in a $57 million
loss for WWE. Subsequently, WWE had struggled with its
efforts to build new wrestling stars; the attendance at its live
shows began to drop off, and advertising revenues declined as
well. In part, this may have resulted from a saturation of the
wrestling market, but the lackluster financial results might also
have been attributed to the failure of WWE’s efforts to
diversify away from wrestling.
In the years since that misstep, CEO Vince McMahon explored
new avenues of growth and turned pro wrestling into a
perpetual traveling road show. WWE used wrestling’s
increased popularity to build up a stronger ad-supported
Internet presence, where content can be watched 24/7, and the
firm even expanded into feature film production with its
wrestling superstars. The firm also staged over 330 live events
a year, and by 2014 had produced almost 70 live shows outside
the United States, helping to boost the worldwide revenues

that the firm was able to generate from its merchandise. In

2015 WWE celebrated the popularity of its YouTube channel
success, attracting over one million subscribers to its original
WWE Network programming.
Regarding competition, the firm has had to face a challenge
from mixed martial arts (MMA), the combat sport that
combines kickboxing and grappling. Because of its similarity
to wrestling, this new sport might pull away some of WWE’s
fans. The question remained: could WWE identify
opportunities for further diversification and expansion to
maintain its current success?

QUESTIONS:
 1. Which statement is most true?

a. WWE used to own a football team.


b. WWE has a line of toys.


c. CEO Vince McMahon was a juvenile delinquent.


d. Each WWE “performance” is scripted, and sometimes the

script
changes in the middle of the show.
e. All these statements are true.
2. Was WWE successful at exporting this very violent, very
American content to the predominantly Muslim countries of
Egypt and UAE?
a. Yes b. No
3. What industry does WWE operate? Who are the main
competitors? What is the target/strategic group of WWE?
What corporate innovation strategies did Vince McMahon use
to grow World Wrestling Entertainment?
4. What resources does WWE have and how valuable are they?
(It’s important to consider the concept of the resource-based
view of the firm, and

the three key types of resources: tangible resources, intangible

resources, and organizational capabilities that can help a firm
sustain a competitive advantage).
5. In your opinion, what should be done to expand or grow
such type of business? What factors influence on successful
life cycle of this industry? What threats, if any, can you
identify for WWE and what are its main strengths?
6. Would you manage this business? What are the pitfalls of
this industry that would/would not stop you to open a start-up
like WWE?