World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.'s (NYSE:WWE) WrestleMania 38 is set to take place over the weekend in what will be the first full-capacity two-night WrestleMania event in the company's history.
"We thought there was an appetite out there for more WrestleMania," WWE President Nick Khan said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street."
WWE has been selling out its recent events, so moving to a two-night event made sense, he explained.
"If you look at our ticket sales, we think our thoughts are reflected in those strong sales," Khan emphasized.
Growth Strategies: Beyond the expanded WrestleMania event, WWE is exploring several other growth initiatives.
As the streaming wars ramped up amid the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE transitioned away from pay-per-view following an "interesting offer" from partner Peacock, which is owned by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA).
"To be able to take our product over there at a lower price point than we were charging, while offering the additional Peacock programming — it just made sense for us," Khan explained.
WWE is also exploring scripted fictionalized TV shows as a way to diversify revenue streams.
"We think WWE is a treasure trove of intellectual property, a treasure trove that has not yet been exploited in the way that we want to exploit it," he said.
Kahn told CNBC that WWE has more than 12 projects in development with several different buyers around the globe.
"There are a number of things we can do to help further monetize every part of our business," he stressed.
The perfect example is the company's expansion into NFTs. In October, WWE partnered with Blockchain Labs to launch digital collectibles on the company's platform. Khan noted that the NFT platform is expected to launch in about a month.
"Again, with the intellectual property we have, we think there's a lot of ways to create collectibles that our fans and fans around the world may want," he said. "We also announced a deal a few days ago with Fanatics, largely a merchandise deal, but also in the trading card space. Look for some NFT action there as well."
WWE Price Action per Benzinga Pro: WWE has traded between $46.81 and $70.72 over a 52-week period.
The stock was up 0.45% at $62.72 Friday afternoon at publication.
