News On Why WWE Reported The Saudi Arabia Deal On Monday, More On The Agreement

As we reported yesterday, WWE announced that the company has expanded their partnership with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority through 2027, to include a second annual large-scale event.

When the WWE deal with Saudi Arabia was announced in March of 2018, it was already scheduled to run through 2027. WWE had been holding two events per year in Saudi Arabia, however only one was guaranteed as part of the deal. WWE noted to us that they had been working on a long-term agreement for a second large-scale event in the region annually.

It appears as if this deal was finalized after Thursday morning's third quarter earnings call, as WWE Co-President George Barrios stated on the call that a second WWE event in Saudi Arabia wasn't confirmed going forward.

"I can't talk about that now," Barrios said last Thursday, when asked if the two events in Saudi Arabia can be locked down for 2020. "We want to talk about 2020 once we've locked down several elements that are still open. So I really can't answer the question."

WWE stock has been dropping since WWE reported their third quarter earnings last Thursday. There had been concerns about WWE's progress in the Middle East as WWE lowered their outlook for 2019, citing a delay in completing a new TV deal in the Middle East for the change. As of the close of the day on Monday before the announcement was made, the stock was down 20% since Thursday.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the WWE partnership with Saudi General Entertainment Authority on Monday had nothing to do with rumors stemming from last week's travel debacle out of Saudi Arabia, but because of the stock price. As of this writing, WWE shares are up 7% on Tuesday because of the announcement.