TKO President Mark Shapiro has said more WWE sponsorship deals are coming. He expects partnership revenue to speed up in the second half of the year. Shapiro appeared with TKO CEO Ari Emanuel on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. They talked about WWE’s partnership business and what the company expects for the rest of the year.
WWE’s partnership revenue grew by more than 90 per cent across 2024 and 2025. That happened after TKO added WWE to its portfolio. Shapiro said TKO used a playbook it had already built with UFC. The company applied those methods to WWE and quickly grabbed the easier opportunities.
Growth has been slower in the first half of this year. It was 2 per cent in the first quarter and 8 per cent in the second quarter. Shapiro said one reason was WWE’s busy international event schedule. Those events limited how many global partnerships WWE could sell during that period.
Shapiro expects the business to pick up in the second half. He described it as back-loaded. Many global partnership deals are set to begin then. He said many of them are multi-year agreements. They are also high-margin and recurring. Shapiro also expects WWE to finish the year with more than 20 per cent year-over-year growth in partnership revenue.
Mark Shapiro Defends Netflix Amid Engagement Concerns and Growing Sports Push
TKO President Mark Shapiro is defending Netflix. He says Netflix has become a go-to place for sports. He also thinks the talk about Netflix’s weak engagement is overblown. Shapiro spoke on CNBC with TKO CEO Ari Emanuel.
Netflix users watched about 97 billion hours in the first half of 2026. That was only about 2 per cent more than before. The stock price has been falling. Wells Fargo told clients that Netflix’s recent engagement trends are worrying. The bank said viewing time per subscriber per day dropped 8 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2023.
Even with those numbers, Shapiro remains positive. He says Netflix is now a top destination for sports. People go to ESPN or Paramount Plus for sports, but he thinks Netflix is now the first place many turn to. He said Netflix has premium content. It is also moving into influencer, podcast, and talk content. It is spending more money and listening to viewers. He called the engagement incredibly strong. He also said Netflix is willing to try new models and new creators. He called it the first stop for TKO.
Shapiro also said the reports about lower engagement are being exaggerated. He said Netflix is growing its ad-supported business. It keeps adding premium content. It is also getting much more into sports. He said YouTube is a great player, but it is mostly short form and creator-driven. He said Netflix is doing something completely different.
Wall Street is still not fully convinced. HSBC and Wells Fargo recently downgraded Netflix. They cited competition from YouTube and a weaker slate of original shows. Netflix’s sports offerings include some NFL games, MLB events, and the Women’s World Cup. Executives have also said they are interested in the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2030. But it is not clear if those events can boost everyday viewing, not just sign-ups.
Netflix is paying TKO about $5 billion over 10 years for WWE Monday Night Raw. So TKO has a strong reason to promote Netflix as the first stop for sports fans. But if Netflix cannot create more engagement around the events it buys, the low numbers could be a risk for future media deals.
FAQs
Q. Who expects WWE sponsorship revenue to grow?
A. TKO President Mark Shapiro expects strong growth.
Q. How much did WWE partnership revenue grow in 2024 and 2025?
A. The revenue grew by more than 90 per cent.
Q. How much growth does Shapiro expect for 2026?
A. Shapiro expects more than 20 per cent growth.
Q. Why was WWE partnership growth slower early in 2026?
A. WWE had a busy international event schedule.
Q. How much is Netflix paying TKO for WWE Raw?
A. Netflix is paying about $5 billion over 10 years.
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