WWE fans are getting TKO'd by UFC value extraction tactics

Endeavor's one-size-fits-all approach to economics is a rolling avalanche.

The history between professional wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts is a long and complicated story.

Endeavor sought to change that with its purchase of UFC in 2016 and its eventual merger with WWE under the TKO umbrella in 2023.

Since Endeavor’s $4 billion purchase of UFC, Hollywood has been determined to create a distinct brand identity with unique demographics. With UFC, Endeavor utilized the Roger Ailes playbook that made Fox News a powerhouse. It was no coincidence that Ari Emanuel turbo-charged Dana White’s public allegiance to US President Donald J. Trump.

When UFC merged with WWE under the TKO umbrella through a reverse Morris Trust transaction, Endeavor’s marketing strategy was clear with WWE: lean hard into Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment ideology.

WWE, since the mid-2000s, was Vince McMahon’s tool to get into the Hollywood scene. WWE Films. McMahon had a constant obsession with hashtags trending on RAW throughout the 2010s.

What long-time fight fans didn’t necessarily comprehend was WWE’s inversion of the politics and history of their wrestling audience. Instead of a roaring 65/35 conservative-versus-liberal political and cultural demographic of 1980s wrestling fans, the modern WWE flipped that ratio on its head. WWE targeted video game nerds, social media opinion makers, and college-educated TV viewers in the 18-to-34 demographic.

The end result of this demography created an opening for Endeavor under the TKO merger. Make UFC the conservative/libertarian/Bro Vote brand while accelerating WWE as the pure Hollywood brand that has appeal to Democrats and socially liberal yet politically homeless fans.

Rather than continue a demographic marriage between wrestling and MMA audiences, Endeavor leaned into data mining two completely distinctive brands and audiences. Corporate played the numbers game beautifully by playing identity politics. It’s rewarded Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, Egon Durban, Ike Epstein, and Nick Khan handsomely.

And it is why WWE fans are largely ignorant about what happens in UFC, and why UFC fans are largely ignorant about what happens in WWE.

But don’t be fooled. While the C-suite encourages different brand identities and audiences, it is actively applying a one-size-fits-all approach to value extraction. Make them pay. And fans are paying dearly, especially in WWE.

Endeavor’s management wants WWE fans to pay the same inflated ticket prices and meet-and-greet charges as UFC fans have to pay. Directly, through OnLocation, and indirectly, through their monopolistic media partners.

The UFC Bro Voters who are paying thousands of dollars for a T-Mobile Arena or Madison Square Garden ticket might not care about maxing out their credit cards if it means gaining perceived access to President Trump and his political entourage. But WWE fans are different creatures altogether, and now the value extraction is hitting them hardest in the worst value extraction city of all of America, Las Vegas.

As Nate Wilcox recently reported, the pressure is on Team Hollywood to suck out as much cash from fans under the TKO umbrella as possible before they retire and/or sell to the highest bidder.

What this means is that WWE fans are currently two or three years behind UFC fans in terms of getting worked over on outrageous prices for a declining product.

UFC fans are slowly waking up to this ugly reality and seemingly have unshackled their self-censorship chains to voice their opinion on what a dog’s breakfast the UFC product has been for Q1 of 2025. What we recently saw — and heard — from fans at the UFC London O2 Arena Fight Night event is a precursor of what’s in store for WWE fans.

The difference? The WWE Universe is an entirely different audience from UFC fans. And if there’s one thing you can’t erase from the DNA of wrestling fans, it’s their inclination of protesting — and rioting — against promoters. Vince McMahon was brilliant at reflecting fan anger and channeling it into the Attitude Era. The WWE brain trust in 2025 is clever but not as adept as late-1990s Vince McMahon.

The backlash and financial consequences of TKO’s value extraction against both UFC and WWE fans is like boiling water in a tea kettle.

Where do you fit into the picture? And how much more is it going to cost you to be a fight fan? Recent trends indicate that it’s about to get even more expensive and time-consuming. Let’s look at some of the evidence…