Vince McMahon 'Disappointed' in New Deal With NBCU

By Sami K. Martin, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 20, 2014

World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon admitted that he is unhappy with the new contract signed between WWE and NBCUniversal. McMahon is trying to keep the WWE at the top of its game and wants to make sure that it does well in every aspect, including business.

"We were a little disappointed with our NBCU deal," he told Variety analysts. "Whether we failed or not, I'm not certain. Internationally, we did better than we did domestically. It's still a good deal but not what we wanted."

Part of the problem is that McMahon did not get as much as analysts expected he might from the deal. However, further merchandising and International TV deals could bring in much-needed revenue, and even top the previous year's income.

"The company estimates that it will increase the average annual value of these key television agreements to approximately $200 million, representing an increase of more than $90 million, that is nearly three times the increase achieved in the previous round of negotiations," WWE said in an official statement.

Right now, the WWE air's its programs, "Monday Night Raw" and "Friday Night Smackdown" exclusively on NBCUniversal networks: USA and SyFy. The new deal will keep them on those networks while allowing the WWE to expand its global reach.

One of the factors that McMahon admitted hurt the negotiations with NBCU was the launch of the WWE Network online. Users were able to pay $9.99 and have access to every pay-per-view event going back to the very beginning and pay only a monthly fee. That reportedly hurt the stock value of WWE after initially bringing in a boost.

The WWE's contract will bring in $150 million per year with NBCUniversal, but McMahon reportedly lost one-third of his $1.1. billion fortune in the stock market crash after the deal was announced. However, he is positive that he can rebound and with new ventures, bring in even more money. McMahon is all about trying something new for the sake of a return on value.