World Wrestling Entertainment, one of the world’s biggest brands for entertainment, is up for sale. Vince McMahon, 77, has his life’s work on the block, and the estimated asking price of $6-7 billion would blow most NFL teams or Premier League sides out of the water. It's seriously big business.

Whoever – or whichever company – decides to buy WWE will acquire a massive pile of intellectual property, a globally recognized brand name and hundreds of hours of programming. The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin combined don’t have that kind of cash laying around.

Who will be the next owner of WWE? Bookies.com oddsmaker Adam Thompson breaks down the top contenders. Now this market is not currently available on betting apps that we know of, instead we've created the odds below based on news reports, fan speculation and likely bidders. It's for entertainment purposes only.

Next WWE Owner Odds

WWE has hired JPMorgan to lead the selling process, which WWE CEO Nick Khan said would take three months. 

Khan insinuated it might be tough for a single person or group of people to purchase WWE – as often happens with pro sports teams. Instead, it would be more appealing to a media company, especially one that may have its own streaming platform. 

“We feel the marketplace is robust for our product,” Khan told CNBC last month. “It’s in essence its own sports league. Someone can buy it and put it on their platform.”

Many of the world’s top media brands could be interested in acquiring WWE and all its content. 

Who Could Afford To Buy WWE?

Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which includes Peacock and USA Network and 33% of Hulu. WWE already has broadcast agreements with those entities. Buying WWE means Comcast could lock in all programming and use the IP across its platforms. The company is worth an estimated $160 billion, so securing WWE is very doable. 

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in October that the company is in a good place, however, and wouldn’t rush to make any new acquisitions. That was October, though. 

Over the last decade, Disney has purchased Marvel, Star Wars and most FOX entertainment entities. WWE is a logical next big splash, and something that could be seen to help boost its streaming services, including Disney Plus and ESPN+. Returning Disney CEO Bob Iger, who considered running for president in 2020, could fancy himself as the next on-air owner personality, similar to McMahon. 

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Endeavor Group Holdings, run by Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel, purchased UFC in 2021, which turned out to be a massive win for the company. Endeavor represents some of WWE’s biggest stars of all-time, and if the outwardly-brash McMahon wants another Alpha owner atop the pyramid, Emanuel (or perhaps UFC’s Dana White) fits the bill. 

Emanuel was non-committal in a call with shareholders recently. Endeavor, with its $11 billion valuation, may struggle to compete with the Comcast’s and Disney’s of the world, if those two companies prove to have serious interest. 

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Amazon has jumped strongly into sports lately, securing rights with the NFL for Thursday Night Football and with MLB and the Premier League to stream games this year. Amazon also hasn’t been afraid to make massive purchases. Over the last five years, it has made similarly sized deals to acquire Whole Foods ($14 billion) and MGM ($8.5 billion). 

Speaking of major online operators, Netflix has admittedly not found a way to make a profit from broadcasting live sports yet, but the acquisition of a sports league could be a different matter. With a market cap of around $150 billion, Netflix is one of few entertainment companies out there that could give Comcast and Disney a run for their money. 

However, Netflix has so far preferred to target sports documentary series - think Drive To Survive in Formula 1 or Full Swing for the PGA Tour - rather than live sports. Purchasing WWE would represent a massive shift in strategy.

Early rumors suggested the Saudi Investment Fund, the one that owns LIV Golf and numerous pro soccer teams, had an inside track to purchase WWE. While the funding is there, some analysts see the move as unlikely, though the interest remains to an extent. 

Liberty Media owns Formula 1 and put the sport on the map in the U.S., something other owners failed to do. The company has made several purchases in the $10 billion range, including Formula 1, Pandora and Sirius XM.

The Field includes other major entities that could throw their hats in the ring (pun intended). FOX sold off much of its entertainment properties in a $71 billion deal with Disney in 2019, but it does own the TV rights to Friday Night Smackdown. At a valuation of $17 billion, FOX likely couldn’t compete with Comcast straight-up. 

Warner Brothers Discovery has a deal with rival wrestling league AEW that ends later this year, and the company has put acquiring valuable IP as a heightened priority. 

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