The WWE is looking to expand into new business areas, including the red-hot NFT and audio content markets.
To help it do so, it has hired two former CAA agents: Scott Zanghellini and Alex Varga. Zanghellini will be head of revenue strategy and development for the company, with Varga serving as vp of revenue strategy and development.
“The content business is shifting on a weekly, if not daily, basis so it’s incumbent upon all of us here at WWE to be ahead of the curve in terms of what’s next – and to be there before it begins,” Varga tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And that is what we hope to help with.”
The company is also beginning to explore new opportunities in some emerging businesses, including blockchain-based NFTs and audio content, such as podcasts. While the WWE has dabbled in both areas, the company still sees them as growth opportunities.
“Helping with revenue growth on the global platform WWE has built to date, we expect to see continued opportunity in emerging areas including audio content, NFTs, memorabilia and social gaming,” Zanghellini says. “The prominence of WWE’s digital and social channels will continue to further fuel new revenue streams, as well as allow for category expansion in all areas.”
The WWE is in the midst of repositioning itself for an increasingly cross-platform media world.
While it was early in the direct-to-consumer streaming space with WWE Network, it struck a deal with NBCUniversal earlier this year to move all of its WWE Network content to NBCU’s Peacock streaming service. That agreement complements the company’s TV deals with NBCU and Fox Corp., and includes live coverage of events like Wrestlemania, which was held earlier this month in Florida.
Varga and Zanghellini are joining their former CAA colleague Nick Khan at the WWE. Khan, who had been co-head of TV for the agency, was named president of the WWE last August, and is executing the company’s new strategy. At CAA he had represented the WWE in their negotiations with TV partners.
“Nick always took the time, as a senior agent, to give us feedback and invest in our careers when we were first starting out. We established a relationship and rapport with him then that carried over to present day,” Zanghellini says. “So when we were presented with this opportunity, it was a no-brainer to join him and the entire WWE team considering all that the organization has been able to build to date.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
