TKO, the parent company of WWE and UFC, continues to secure substantial public subsidies for its major events.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) is set to provide a $7.125 million subsidy to support WWE’s two-day SummerSlam event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, scheduled for August 2025. This marks the largest known subsidy for a WWE event in the U.S., far surpassing the $330,000 provided for the 2021 SummerSlam in Las Vegas. The SummerSlam 2025 subsidy is 14 times greater than the $500,000 provided for the 2024 Royal Rumble in Tampa.
The New Jersey funds will be used to offset a negotiated incentive fee tied to the estimated $80.7 million in economic impact that SummerSlam is expected to generate for the region. This includes $32.4 million in wages and salaries. NJSEA highlighted the potential for increased global visibility and economic activity for local businesses, including hotels and restaurants, driven by the large influx of attendees. WWE itself commissioned an economic impact study, which was conducted by Applied Analysis, a common practice for such major sports and entertainment events.
In addition to SummerSlam, UFC, another TKO brand, received a $5 million subsidy from NJSEA earlier this year for UFC 302, held in Newark. The funds for SummerSlam will be drawn from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund, part of the American Rescue Plan, which is intended to boost New Jersey’s tourism and hospitality sectors. The subsidy will be subject to approval by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
During a recent appearance at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference, TKO CEO Mark Shapiro expressed his belief that many companies will be interested in WWE’s library and PLE rights when their deal with Peacock ends in 2026. He said,
“The PLEs are seeing significant audiences. The marketing around the events have been terrific. That one in particular lends itself to even more suitors than the UFC, dare I say, because the nature of the PLEs, which are once a month. There are a lot of platforms out there that are looking for premium and also looking for volume. Other platforms are just looking for volume and even a smaller subset, but still enough for us, are looking for low volume but high premium. That is exactly what the PLEs are. Once a month, somewhere around the globe, we can schedule it with our partner depending on what is the strategic interest to them in terms of sub-growth, broadband growth, a new series they’re launching, or a new event on the ground. The PLEs are attractive in the sense that you’re getting high quality, very high premium, but just once a month. Obviously, we’ll start those conversations at some point in the first half of next year with Peacock, exclusively, but we’re interested to talk to other suitors. They know that, by the way.”
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