TKO Group, the home of UFC and WWE, saw revenue jump 18% to $1.5 billion for the three months ended in June, beating Wall Street estimates as execs touted its partners Paramount and Netflix, the UFC Freedom 250 match and the World Cup, which buoyed its On Location business.
The stock, which has been taking its knocks this year, jumped in late trading after the earnings report, which included higher forecasts for 2026 full-year revenue and adjusted ebidta, key metrics for investors as executive chair and CEO Ariel Emanuel noted strong momentum heading into the back half of the year.
“Despite a challenging global environment, TKO delivered solid results in Q2,” he said. “Premium live content and experiences are heating up in an increasingly AI-driven world, and our businesses are well positioned to fully capitalize on societal secular tailwinds.”
At UFC, revenue rose by $120 million to $536 million. Higher UFC media rights fees reflected the impact of a key distribution agreement with Paramount that began in January. The league also saw new partners and an increase in fees from renewals vs the year before driven by the UFC Freedom 250 event held at the White House in June. Q2 ticket sales fell, since none were sold for that high-profile event.
Watch on Deadline
As expected, the company ended up taking a hit of about $30 million on the spectacle, but, executives said on a call after earnings, TKO successfully leveraged UFC Freedom 250 to boost its relationships with existing partners and create a point of entry for new categories and formats.
At WWE, revenue rose by $64.7 million to $621 mThe LA28 Olympics, still two years away, has generated orders for more than $280 million dollars on over 20,000 bookings for On Location, parent TKO Group said to day on reporting quarterly earnings.
That’s deferred revenue that won’t be recognized by the IMG division until the event takes place in 2028.
Hospitality sales for the FIFA World Cup, instead, accounted for $45 million in profits for On Location for the second quarter, said
Andrew Schleimer, TKO’s CFO. said the current third quarter will also benefit. “Given the scale and complexity of this event, we’re still in the process of closing out our books to determine the final financial results,” he said, but the company “expects to exceed our estimate of approximately $75 million in adjusted ebidta for the full year.”
Total World Cup hospitality sales surpassed $2 billion dollars from more than 568,000 packages sold for the second quarter, along, not counting the 25 matches in July. IMG posted quarterly profit of $78.6 million, up from $29 million, on revenue of $354 million v $307 million. On Location is the premium experiential hoillion.
TKO net income grew $31 million to $304 million on higher revenue partly offset by increased expense, including $98 million of legal fees and settlement costs associated with stockholder litigation related to WWE.
The company’s adjusted ebitda rose 23% to $649.9 million. Free cash flow of $349.6 million fell by $25.3 million
TKO shares closed up 1.2% ahead of earnings and are about 2% after, at $187.
“From UFC Freedom 250 to the FIFA World Cup, TKO continues to deliver on the biggest stages and this quarter reinforced our 2026 execution story,” said TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro, saying its move to raise full-year guidance reflects “both our performance to date and our confidence in TKO’s multi-year trajectory,”
“Our global fan base is expanding, and we are capitalizing on the commercial promise across ticketing, premium hospitality, marketing partnerships, and financial incentive packages. The demand in the experience economy is undeniable and positions us well for multi-year growth, margin expansion, and overall value creation.”
Shapiro pushed back on speculation that in a period of industry consolidation the company has M&A on its mind, including a possible hookup with Formula One. Totally untrue he said, the company has lots of moving pieces, is growing and fully focused on “execution.”
- Streaming Gains Highlight Mixed Q2; CEO “Fully Expects” Merger To Close
- ‘Brand New Day’ 2nd Fastest To $1B WW; Record U.S. Monday With $47M
- NBC Cues Up Celebrity Edition Of ‘The Voice’ With Host Keke Palmer; Coaches Set
- Numan Acar Joins Pic As Kevin J. O’Connor & Oded Fehr Ink Deals To Return
Read More About:
No Comments
Source: Deadline
