NEW YORK & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Major League Baseball and WWE (NYSE: WWE) announced today a multi-year partnership to create MLB-inspired WWE Championship title belts and accessories featuring the logos of all 30 MLB Clubs from around North America. The new line of merchandise launches in 2022, marking the first time these items have been available for fans. This is the first official licensing agreement for WWE Championship title belts between WWE and one of the major U.S. sports leagues.
As part of the agreement, MLB and WWE will collaborate to design and manufacture team-branded title belts as well as belts that celebrate some of the league’s Jewel Events such as the World Series, All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. Additionally, the two sides will create custom side plates and unique Lucha Libre masks.
“At MLB we are constantly looking to serve our fans with the most unique products possible so that they can support their favorite Clubs and players in the ways they want,” said Denis Nolan, MLB Senior Vice President, Global Consumer Products. “We often see baseball fans and players bringing their MLB and WWE fandom together at games and online, so this is a natural development for us to work together and offer the highest quality, official co-branded items for fans around the world.”
“We’ve been continually amazed by the reaction to custom WWE Championship title belts and we’re excited this partnership will allow us to make them widely available to fans,” said Kevin Moore, WWE Senior Vice President, Direct-to-Consumer Products.
WWE has a long-standing tradition of creating custom WWE Championship title belts as gifts for many of the top athletes and championship-winning franchises around the world. Most recently, WWE created a Los Angeles Dodgers-inspired title belt to commemorate their 2020 World Series victory.
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’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 900 million homes worldwide in 28 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network. The Company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Dubai, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Riyadh, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
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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: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business, results of operations and financial condition; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; a rapidly evolving media landscape; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including without limitation, claims alleging traumatic brain injury; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the volatility of our Class A common stock. 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 (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
