On Monday, Endeavor and WWE announced that they have formed a new publicly traded entity in which Endeavor will have a controlling 51% stake and WWE will own the remaining 49%. The deal values the UFC at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3 billion. The merger is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

In 2022, WWE saw a significant increase in annual revenue, which grew 18% to nearly $1.3 billion. Its net income also increased from $177 million to $195 million. The majority of the company's revenue was generated from media rights (roughly 80%). The remaining revenue was generated from live events and merchandise sales. Its most important event, WrestleMania, was held last weekend in Los Angeles.

Endeavor is a global sports and entertainment company that includes industry-leading companies such as WME, a talent agency, IMG, a media company, and UFC, a mixed martial arts organization. The UFC boasts more than 700 million fans and 228 million social media followers worldwide. It hosts more than 40 live events annually while broadcasting to more than 900 million television households in 170 countries.

The UFC and WWE anticipate that by leveraging Endeavor's "back office" and advanced infrastructure, they will achieve annual operating cost savings of $50 to $100 million. In addition, Endeavor expects significant growth in various revenue streams, including domestic and international media rights, ticket sales and optimization, event operations, sponsorships and licensing.

WWE shares were down 4.2% to $87.42 during morning trading. Endeavor shares fell 7.7% to $22.09.