WWE announces that Crown Jewel will be held in Saudi Arabia as scheduled

[Big Red Machine]

Source: PWTorch

BY MIKE MCMAHON, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

October 25, 2018


WWE announced this morning that Crown Jewel will be held as scheduled on Nov. 2 in Saudi Arabia. The company didn’t send out a statement, but rather included it in their third quarter financial results, which were posted to their corporate website on Thursday morning.

“WWE has operated in the Middle East for nearly 20 years and has developed a sizable and dedicated fan base,” the statement read. “Considering the heinous crime committed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Company faced a very difficult decision as it relates to its event scheduled for November 2 in Riyadh. Similar to other U.S.-based companies who plan to continue operations in Saudi Arabia, the Company has decided to uphold its contractual obligations to the General Sports Authority and stage the event. Full year 2018 guidance is predicated on the staging of the Riyadh event as scheduled.”

“Full-year 2018 guidance,” which WWE references in its last sentence, is the earnings expectation which is communicated to stockholders. That line could also be read as, “Our projected earnings for 2018 is predicated on the staging of the Riyadh event as scheduled.”

WWE has scrubbed references to Saudi Arabia from its television shows and website over the past two weeks. Interestingly, WWE didn’t even mention Saudi Arabia in its statement announcing that the show would go on as scheduled. Instead, the company only referenced the city, “Riyadh.

[cero2k]

well John Cena, this is your test, let's see how much of a company man you really are.

[Big Red Machine]

From F4W/WON:

UPDATE: On today's earning call, WWE didn't elaborate further on their decision. Vince McMahon said they weren't going to talk about it a lot and called it a "very sensitive subject." He referred to the statement that WWE issued.