WWE hires Nick Khan to be President & Chief Revenue Officer, previously represented WWE at CAA in securing new TV deals with Fox and USA Network

WWE announced today that Nick Khan, former co-head of the Television at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has been named President & Chief Revenue Officer. He will report directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. Khan replaces WWE’s former co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, who left WWE in January.

“Nick is a seasoned media executive with a deep understanding of our business and a proven track record of generating significant value for sports and entertainment properties,” said McMahon in the press release. “While representing WWE at CAA, he was instrumental in transforming our business model by securing domestic media rights increases of 3.6x over our previous agreements. Nick’s management style and personal demeanor are perfect for WWE’s entrepreneurial culture, and he will fit right in with our exceptional management team.”

Street & Smith’s Sports Business Daily deemed it a “powerhouse move.” He impressed Vince McMahon when, while representing WWE at CAA, he secured WWE’s blockbuster TV rights deals last year with Fox and USA Network setting WWE on a course to record revenues and profits.

“The first thing I want to do is figure out where the bathrooms are,” he told SBD. “We all have a lot of ideas in our head. It might be a little premature to share them in terms of when we are going to execute those.”

He attended Paul Levesque’s 50th birthday party last summer. “We looked around the room and said, ‘It’s really kind of them to consider us friends,’” he told SBD. “For a family-run business — albeit a publicly traded one — it just felt right. At that moment, I started thinking, ‘I wonder if there’s something bigger and better to do with them.’”

Khan, an attorney, joined CAA in 2012. He has represented high-profile sports and media broadcasters such as Keith Olbermann, Nancy Grace, Hannah Storm, John Anderson, Jim Lampley, Jalen Rose, and Max Kellerman.

“I am very much looking forward to expanding my relationship with Vince McMahon and the entire team at WWE, and becoming a full-time member of the WWE family,” Khan said in today’s press release. “It’s rare to have an opportunity to work at a company that is not only legendary in what it has already accomplished, but also uniquely poised to enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and expansion across all lines of business. Our collective industry experience will enable us to extract maximum value across the portfolio globally while driving long-term shareholder value.”

Khan will enter during a tumultuous time for WWE as live event business, the historically core of WWE’s entire business, is shut down and it faces declining ratings at a time when TV is being produced without fans in attendance. Although WWE’s flagship programs are among the top shows on cable in the core 18-49 demographic, they are reaching fewer fans than ever on a weekly basis through their traditional cable shows, which are currently raking in record revenues in a deal negotiated by Khan. WWE has introduced a free tier of WWE Network, which could end up being WWE’s primary means of distributing its main TV shows years from now after the current TV deals expire, or WWE could become more valuable to networks like Fox and USA as more first-run programs move from traditional timeslot-based channels to streaming app services.

WWE stock is up about 1 percent today.

STAMFORD, Conn., August 5, 2020 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that Nick Khan, former Co-Head of Television at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has been named President & Chief Revenue Officer, reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

“Nick is a seasoned media executive with a deep understanding of our business and a proven track record of generating significant value for sports and entertainment properties,” said McMahon. “While representing WWE at CAA, he was instrumental in transforming our business model by securing domestic media rights increases of 3.6x over our previous agreements. Nick’s management style and personal demeanor are perfect for WWE’s entrepreneurial culture, and he will fit right in with our exceptional management team.”

“I am very much looking forward to expanding my relationship with Vince McMahon and the entire team at WWE, and becoming a full-time member of the WWE family,” said Khan. “It’s rare to have an opportunity to work at a company that is not only legendary in what it has already accomplished, but also uniquely poised to enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and expansion across all lines of business. Our collective industry experience will enable us to extract maximum value across the portfolio globally while driving long-term shareholder value.”

Khan, a former practicing attorney, transitioned to International Creative Management (ICM) in 2006 where he launched their Sports Media department and represented the biggest names in sports broadcasting. In 2012, Khan moved to CAA where he became the Co-Head of the Television Department. During his tenure there, Khan continued to represent the top broadcasters while also representing WWE, the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Top Rank Boxing, and others helping to negotiate billions of dollars in media deals on their behalf.