WWE officials are reportedly planning on increasing talent pay later this year, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
WWE talents are being told that when the new TV deal money kicks in later this year that the new contracts will be way up from the previous deals that they were signed to. SmackDown will be moving to Fox in October, and the renewed WWE deal with NBC Universal will start at that time as well.
There’s been talk of the new deals being like other sports leagues where talents are signed for a dollar figure and that’s what they earn, and then anything they earn above that is either a bonus or a contracted percentage of their merchandise sales. The Observer points to how WWE is no longer a live event-driven and pay-per-view-driven business, but a guaranteed TV rights-driven business.
WWE could have plenty of cash to go around for Superstars that re-sign for the deals that include better pay as they signed two significant deals with NBCUniversal (RAW) and Fox (SmackDown) last year, totaling $2.34 billion over 5 years. There’s no word yet on how much money might be earmarked for the talent contracts.
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