“We’re Spending A Lot More Money …”

A top TKO executive is speaking out about the evolving landscape of WWE programming, and why not everyone is going to like it.

TKO Group President Mark Shapiro recently made an appearance at the University of Alabama, where he spoke to a small class on a wide range of industry topics.

Among them was TKO’s level of involvement in WWE’s creative direction, particularly when it comes to the increased use of celebrity talent on television.

Addressing the topic head-on, Shapiro pointed to crossover names like Logan Paul, Pat McAfee, and NBA stars Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson as examples of the company leaning into mainstream visibility to grow the brand.

“We’re spending a lot more money to market the brand and market the content,” he said. “And when you do that, you’re gonna win some folks over, but you’re also gonna chase some folks away. They don’t like this or they don’t like that. This is too expensive or, ‘Oh my God, to watch the WWE, I gotta buy Netflix which costs this much, I gotta watch SmackDown on USA, I gotta do that, I gotta have CW so I have to have cable. And now I have to pay for ESPN.’ And you can make some enemies really quickly.”

It’s a balancing act, and one that reflects the broader direction of modern sports and entertainment.

The comments come on the heels of WWE’s first WrestleMania airing under its new distribution model, which included ESPN Unlimited in the United States.

The first hour of each night was also simulcast across ESPN and ESPN2, marking a notable shift in how WWE’s biggest event is delivered to viewers.

Shapiro was quick to note that this kind of multi-platform approach isn’t unique to WWE.

“I was just reading something today,” he began. “If you want to watch the Yankees games this year, the full season through the playoffs, you’ll have to watch them across 10 platforms at the cost of a thousand dollars when you add up everything you have to buy to see them. That’s just the way of the world today.”

.@TKOGrp President Mark Shapiro told a University of Alabama class that TKO has full control over @WWE creative.

He defended the increase in celebrity involvement (@LoganPaul, @PatMcAfeeShow, @markwahlberg) as a growth strategy, while admitting it may alienate parts of the… pic.twitter.com/Mndy17GEEK

— Blake “Axe” Avignon (@bobby_s_axelrod) April 20, 2026