RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced that it will bring WWE LIVE™ to The Green Halls Stadium, Prince Faisal bin Fahad Olympic Games Complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the first time ever with three shows from Thursday, February 13 through Saturday, February 15, 2014. Tickets will go on sale Monday, December 16, 2013 at 12:00pm KSA.
Fans attending WWE LIVE™ will be able to see their favorite Superstars, including current World Heavyweight Champion John Cena™, WWE Champion Randy Orton™, Daniel Bryan™, Mark Henry™, Ryback™, Kofi Kingston™ and many more.**
WWE currently has a strong TV presence in Saudi Arabia with its flagship weekly shows, WWE Raw® and WWE SmackDown®. WWE Raw is broadcasted on MBC and the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel and WWE SmackDown can be seen on Orbit Showtime Network.
“Holding three live events in Saudi Arabia for the first time is a testament to the growing demand for WWE’s brand in this region,” said Gerrit Meier, Executive Vice President, International, WWE. “We are very excited to be returning to the Middle East with events in a debut market after successful shows in Abu Dhabi and Qatar earlier this year.”
The event also represents a significant milestone for FLASH Entertainment headquartered in Abu Dhabi who, alongside their local Saudi partners Time Events, has worked with WWE to bring WWE LIVE™ events to the Middle East.
“As the region’s premier event organization we are delighted to be partnering with WWE and Time Events on this historic event,” said John Lickrish, CEO of FLASH Entertainment. “WWE is one of the most popular brands in the world, and we are all hugely excited to be bringing it to the people of Saudi Arabia.”
"TIME Events is all about making a difference and adding to life. We would like to thank FLASH Entertainment and WWE for giving us the opportunity to work side-by-side in bringing WWE to Saudi Arabia for the very first time,” said Ahmed Mashhadi, Managing Director of Time Events. “It plans to be a memorable occasion and one that will be enjoyed by WWE fans across Saudi Arabia.”
Tickets for the three shows will go on sale Monday, December 16, 2013 at 12:00pm KSA time and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae.
** Talent line-up subject to change
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Miami, Mumbai, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
About Flash
Based in Abu Dhabi, FLASH Entertainment is the region’s premier live events company, with a proven track record in delivering world-class events from movie premieres and classical shows to international sports events and megastar music concerts. FLASH offers comprehensive event management solutions from concepts and designs through to coordinating every stage of production. The company is committed to providing the region with diverse entertainment programmes, grass roots creativity and stimulating the local economy and events’ industry.
In just 4 years, FLASH has diversified its business portfolio developing entertainment that has seen close to two million fans through the doors. Partnering with leading international sports and entertainment organizations such as Live Nation, Cream and UFC, the company is well on its way to achieve its mission of growing from the region’s premier live events company, to a globally recognized peerless entertainment organization. FLASH owns a 10% stake in UFC and manages a multi-million-dirham portfolio of assets including the du Arena and du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
About Time Events
TIME Events is an events development company that is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, aimed in developing localized event content, giving different target segments in Saudi and the Middle East an entertaining, rich and memorable experience outside their homes. Other than events development TIME Events is also aimed to host global event content in the region such as WWE."
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
