TKO Group Holdings, Inc. yesterday announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO, said: “TKO’s solid third quarter results reflect continued strength across UFC and WWE, particularly in live events and brand partnerships. In light of this continued momentum, we now expect to deliver at the upper end of our full-year 2024 guidance range for both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.

“Additionally, two weeks ago we announced the authorization of a robust capital return program and an agreement to acquire industry-leading sports assets that will power our profile, give us greater scale, strengthen our position in the sports marketplace, and accelerate returns for shareholders. Just over a year since UFC and WWE came together to form TKO, our conviction in this business is as strong as ever.”

Revenue increased 52%, or $232.1 million, to $681.2 million. The increase reflected the increase of $274.7 million of revenue at WWE, to $326.3 million, partially offset by a decrease of $42.6 million at UFC, to $354.9 million.

Net Income was $57.7 million, an increase of $35.7 million from $22.0 million in the prior year period.

When it comes to WWE, the company pulled $227.4 million in media rights and content, $51.1 million in live events, $21.7 million in sponsorship, and $26.1 million in consumer products.

WWE revenue was $51.6 million for the period from September 12, 2023 through September 30, 2023. Including WWE activity for the period from July 1, 2023 through September 11, 2023, WWE combined revenue was $287.3 million for the period from July 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023.

The increase of 14%, or $39.0 million, was primarily driven by an increase in media rights and content, live events, and sponsorship revenue. The increase in media rights and content revenue was primarily related to the contractual escalation of media rights fees as well as the timing of WWE’s weekly flagship programming, which resulted in an additional event in the current year period.

The increase in live events revenue was primarily related to an increase in ticket sales revenue. The increase in sponsorship revenue was primarily related to new sponsors and an increase in fees from renewals compared to the prior year period.

The full press release is at https://investor.tkogrp.com/news/news-details/2024/TKO-Reports-Third-Quarter-2024-Results/default.aspx.