With safety concerns mounting over the upcoming event in Riyadh, TKO President Mark Shapiro addresses WWE Crown Jewel safety concerns and potential cancellation. Shapiro confirmis that while the company aims to complete its scheduled lineup, safety will outweigh financial performance if conditions worsen.
Speaking on a Zoom call with employees across WWE, UFC, and Zuffa Boxing, Shapiro recognized wall street concerns regarding potential disruptions to TKO’s remaining 2026 calendar. Addressing analyst uncertainty over whether events in the region could face cancellation, Shapiro noted:
“We have a lot of investors and analysts out there across the Wall Street community that are nervous that we’ll be able to pull off the year without any of our events being canceled. We’ve had investors dubious that we could close out this year without any hiccups, meaning events being canceled. You saw F1 and many events canceled given the global nature of our business. Well, so far, we’ve been lucky enough to not have any interruption.”
Safety Remains Top Priority Despite Financial Impact
Shapiro acknowledged that event disruptions remain a possibility, admitting that any cancellation “will certainly have an impact on our year in a very negative way.” However, the executive insisted that TKO will prioritize personnel over bottom-line figures.
“I don’t want to talk out of both sides of my mouth here. We want to have the year we all envision we’ve all worked hard for. But if there is danger or further escalation of any of these conflicts that are going on, we will not hesitate to cancel those events, damned be our budget.”
“So it’s certainly a balancing act. But the people part of it does come first in that. I know we’ve got a lot of big events coming up in the Middle East. We’re never putting anybody in harm’s way.”
The comments come ahead of a busy Middle East slate for TKO, which includes Crown Jewel on November 7, a Zuffa Boxing event on November 14, and UFC Fight Night on December 5.
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