Consumer Products
We offer a wide variety of consumer products through a licensing program and an integrated direct sales effort.
Licensing
Our worldwide licensing program builds partnerships with companies around the globe to create products featuring our marks and logos, copyrighted works and characters in diverse categories, including toys, video games, apparel, housewares, collectibles, sporting goods, books and more. WWE licensed products, created by our more than 160 licensees worldwide, are available at all major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Kmart, Toys ‘R Us, Target, AAFES, GameStop, Tesco and Ackermans.
WWE video games have sold more than 44.7 million units since 1999, generating more than $1.3 billion in revenues. "WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009" has sold more than 4 million units since its release in November2008 and is available on SonyPlayStation3, PlayStation 2, PSP;Nintendo Wii and DS; and the Xbox 360 platforms. In addition, "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009"was also released on wireless handsets, simultaneous to the console and handheld releases.
WWE produces biographies of our Superstars Divas and Legends, historical anthologies, children’s books, fitness guides, fiction, photo journals, and many others. Nearly half (twenty-three) of our books have appeared on “The New York Times Best Seller List,” including the most recent addition, WWE Encyclopedia.
Home Video
WWE Home Video released six new titles in the first quarter of 2009 and shipped approximately 912,000 units, including more than 150 catalog titles. According to Nielsen Video Scan (week ending 12/28/08), WWE had seven of the top 10 titles in the Sports DVD charts in 2008, and has a commanding No. 1 position and 43 percent market share in the Sports DVD category.
Outside the United States, our new home video productions and catalog titles are distributed through international licensing agreements in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Canada, Japan, India, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, Brunei, South Africa, and the Philippines. Recent deals were signed to expand our international presence into Mexico via Tycoon Entertainment, and into Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile via Synergex.
Magazine Publishing
WWE Magazine is a global men’s lifestyle publication with native language editions in Spain, Mexico, France, Germany and Greece. Every issue contains features, photos, exclusive interviews and access that fans won’t see on television.
In the U.S., WWE Magazine reaches more than 4.6 million readers each month. At retail, WWE Magazine is ranked “top-five” in newsstand revenue for the men’s category, averaging more than $1 million in sales each issue.
WWE Kids magazine debuted in April 2008 and will publish nine issues in 2009. WWE Kids has licensed editions in the UK and Spain.Music
Music is and has always been an integral part of the entertainment experience linking the WWE brand to all media platforms including television, film, radio, video games, live events, ring tones and other emerging digital technologies. In addition to composing, producing, and recording most of our music, including Superstar and Diva entrance themes, WWE Music Group licenses commercial music for use across a variety of cable television and pay-per-view programming needs.
Most recently at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, Kid Rock performed a medley of his hits and, in keeping with tradition for the opening of WrestleMania, Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger sang “America The Beautiful”. We also incorporated music by rock icons AC/DC.
WWE Music Group continues to partner with artists like Metallica, Guns N Roses, Bob Dylan, Goo Goo Dolls, John Legend, Buckcherry, Lostprophets, Fuel, Nickleback, Staind, and others, tying in their music to specific-pay-per-views and television specials.
WWE Music Group collaborates with popular bands for our Superstar entrance themes, and recently worked with platinum-selling artist Story Of The Year to record a new entrance theme for WWE Superstar Christian.
Our latest television program, “WGN Superstars” is built around music by a new band, Adelitas Way and the song “Invincible”. This maintains our commitment to working with new and developing artists; giving them a platform for exposure and awareness to an audience they might not be exposed through traditional record company marketing.