Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel Reiterates Reluctance To Purchase WWE

Last Tuesday, Ari Emanuel, the CEO of UFC parent company Endeavor, made some headlines when he said on an investors' call that his company was not interested in acquiring more debt to purchase WWE. On Wednesday, Deadline reported that he reiterated that position at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, citing, in large part, the degree to which Endeavor has leveraged themselves to the point that their debt is several times what they have in assets.

"Here's what I would say to you, I don't talk about [mergers and acquisitions]," he replied when asked a question about buying WWE. "We have taken [Endeavor] from [debt being] eight times [assets] to below four. I am sleeping, because of that, four hours to eight hours. I'd sleep a lot more if I got it lower ... We are going to take it a lot lower this year." He stressed that deleveraging as a major priority for the company and that they are not pursuing any major transactions. "I think [WWE]'s an incredible asset," he added. "We've been in business with Vince for over two decades. He's as good as it gets. He created one of the great assets of all times."

WWE and Endeavor have had a rocky relationship over the years. Before the talent agencies William Morris and Endeavor merged, they were rivals, with WWE suing Morris in 2000 after jumping ship to Endeavor. (Morris countersued, but the case was discontinued in 2003, though it's unclear how or why.) In 2018, Sports Business Journal reported that the prior year, when WWE was represented by the merged agency as it prepared for the next round of domestic television rights negotiations, Fox brass pushed WWE to hire now-WWE CEO Nick Khan — then of Endeavor's rival agency, CAA — to represent them. Why? They felt that Endeavor had a conflict of interest as the owners of the UFC, who they felt was competing with WWE for TV deals.