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Fans are raising alarms with speculation that the WWE, the world’s biggest pro wrestling promotion, might take the WWE 2K license away from 2K Sports and move it to EA Sports. But why?
YouTuber Mewtate is only one of many people online who are concerned that this could happen, if not next year, sometime down the line. But to understand this, we need to review some other recent news.
Chapter 1: The WWE
WWE is the biggest name in professional wrestling today. While it was founded in 1953, it experienced its peak success in the 1980s and 1990s, flirting with becoming mainstream entertainment.
As of 2023, it was valued at $ 9.1 billion, after it merged with the Universal Fighting Championships to form a new company called TKO.
In 2018, WWE made a deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to hold multiple shows in their country for a decade. That deal is almost coming up, but not before they announced a shocker.
Last month, WWE revealed they would be bringing Wrestlemania, their biggest paid live event, to Saudi Arabia in 2027. This would be the first time the blockbuster show would be held outside the US.
This has led wrestling fans to speculate on how much sway Saudi Arabia has with the promotion, and if they could buy it off of Endeavor someday.
Chapter 2: Electronic Arts
A few days ago, EA revealed they would be going private. The company agreed to a leveraged buyout for $ 55 billion, the largest in history.
A leveraged buyout isn’t a direct purchase, but more of a loan. The buyers will have to raise the money in the coming years.
And that’s led fans to worry, because the buyers could make this money by cancelling games, closing EA divisions and / or laying off workers. But that’s not the biggest source of worry.
The buyers are comprised of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and private equity firm Silver Lake.
To be clear, Saudi Arabia is only one of several stockholders in the company. But they will have huge potential influence in the company’s decisions after they close this deal.
No Reason To Worry – For Now
While it looks like there could be convergence in taking the WWE video game license to EA, Saudi Arabia’s investing arm may choose to let things stand as they are.
The WWE 2K games are doing fine for now, at least in terms of profitability for WWE and Take-Two. There’s no need to force change while it all remains feasible.
Furthermore, EA may not be equipped to take on the franchise in their portfolio. They hold the license for TKO’s other promotion, UFC.
EA has been publishing EA Sports UFC games since 2014. But these games are not successful enough to be annual releases, the way that the WWE 2K games are.
If the idea is that Saudi Arabia would save money by converging their investments, they could regret it later if it doesn’t work out. And we think the country has had enough experience in the video game industry now that they would know better.
If such a change is not forthcoming, it could definitely be a possibility someday. If something sours the deal between Take-Two and the WWE, WWE’s Saudi investors could definitely swoop in to make new arrangements. But that’s not a real concern for now.
