• by Wayne Friedman , August 17, 2022

The return of its live events gave World Wrestling Entertainment major spike overall in second-quarter revenue, rising 24% to $328.2 million.

Live events account contributed much of that gain -- including higher ticket sales for the company’s big “Wrestlemania” annual event.

Revenue totaled $41 million versus $9.2 million in the prior-year period. WWE live events were curtailed during much of the pandemic.

The company also says its “Wrestlemania” as well as “WrestleMania Backlash”, “Hell in a Cell”, “Money in the Bank” and “SummerSlam” all delivered record viewership for their respective events.

Media revenue grew 4% to $243.1 million.

Content licensing deals -- including sales of TV programs “Raw” and “SmackDown” to broadcast, pay television and digital platforms -- rose $151.8 million.

WWE’s streaming and digital network business -- primarily due to a distribution deal of WWE Network on NBCUniversal's Peacock, as well as subscription fees for WWE Network --- inched up to $63.7 million from $61.5 million.

Total advertising revenue, on third-party social media platforms and sponsor ads on WWE's media platforms, slipped to $17.9 million from $18.7 million.

Wednesday morning trading of WWE was down around 1% to $72.55.