Mark Shapiro, TKO’s president, emphasized that not all of the company’s decisions are based on making as much money as possible, but on “what’s best for our fans.”
This was on Wednesday’s TKO Q3 call, where an analyst asked Shapiro about the drop in ticket sales for SummerSlam and WrestleMania 42.
The company’s report shows that WWE’s revenue for Q3 was down 1% to $399.3 million. Live events and hospitality saw the biggest drop, bringing in $57.7 million, which was down $24.8 million from Q3 of 2025, or about 30%.
TKO attributed that to three fewer main roster PLEs and lower ticket sales for SummerSlam, which was held in August at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“We don’t make all of our decisions on just maximizing profitability,” Shapiro said.
He said TKO has the fans, the brand, viewership, and media partners in mind when making decisions.
This is the third straight TKO call where Shapiro has addressed WWE’s ticket sales. On the Q1 call, he said he wasn’t worried at all about the WrestleMania 42 numbers. In August, shortly after SummerSlam, he explained WWE could have done the show in one night and probably made more money per ticket, but went with a two-night show for the fans’ experience.
Despite the drop in ticket sales, WWE’s Q3 Adjusted EBITDA was up 5% to $217.2 million.