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New York-listed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), along with Ten Sports channel, will invest a little over $100 million (₹600 crore) in the Indian sporting related entertainment market, according to sources.
While Rajesh Sethi, CEO of Ten Sports, refused to give any financial numbers related to revenue or investment, WWE General Manager India Rukn Kizilbash said the firm is committed to the Indian market and is keen to make a good amount of investment in the country.
Sethi said the funds would be used to bring in technology, which would help reduce the gap between the television shows shown in the US and India market. He added it would also be used to organise more live events in the country, and to launch a WWE line of merchandise for kids and adults.
Globally, WWE conducts 300 live events a year.
Ten Sports, which has the exclusive rights for the WWE in India, has extended its television distribution agreement for five more years through 2019.
The partnership would work towards creating more local content and telecast in regional languages, Sethi said.
In addition to the continued broadcasts of WWE’s flagship programmes Raw, SmackDown, NXT and monthly pay-per-view specials, starting January 1, 2015, Ten Sports will introduce a new one-hour fully customised version of Raw, tailored specifically for the Indian audience, and add WWE Main Event to its programming line-up.
Ten Sports will also air WWE content in multiple Indian languages for the first time, and bring WWE live events back to India in 2015, Sethi said during the launch in Mumbai.
“India remains a strategically important market for WWE, and we are thrilled to continue our long-term partnership with Ten Sports, the region’s leader in sports programming,” said Gerrit Meier, WWE Executive Vice-President, International.
“As the value of the WWE brand and our content continues to increase around the world, the scale and scope of this new agreement illustrates our ability to drive a passionate and engaged audience, as well as the potential we have for future growth,” he added.
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