Analyst Laura Martin of Needham predicts Amazon to buy the WWE

Needham
recently predicted that in an attempt to win the streaming wars, Amazon may be
eyeing to purchase the largest wrestling brand across the globe, the World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE).

Analyst
Laura Martin of Needham recently commented that the online
retail giant led by the world-renowned Jeff Bezos may start with purchasing
WWE streaming rights. In the upcoming years, she added, the tech giant may as
well buy the American integrated media and entertainment company as a whole.

WWE’s
Loyal Fanbase Makes It An Attractive Acquisition For Streaming Services

The
analyst further added that WWE’s streaming platform (over-the-top) is a much
attractive option for Amazon and its competitors in the streaming niche as
compared to developing new shows from scratch since WWE is likely to bring a
loyal fanbase to the company. According to Martin:

“WWE’s
live programming is highly differentiated and its Raw, Smackdown, and NXT
brands are worth more than being any one of 500 series that have no built-in
audience or brand.”

While
WWE currently boasts a dedicated streaming service that offers a wide range of
content including its pay-per-view events, CEO McMahon had highlighted in the
last earnings call that various streaming services are starting to show
interest in purchasing WWE’s streaming rights.

Martin
also remarked that it wouldn’t be the first time for Amazon if it opted to
purchase WWE’s licensing and streaming rights. The
tech giant has already invested heavily in buying the streaming rights for
live sports events like the Thursday night NFL games in the past few years.

WWE’s
Performance In The Stock Market

For
Amazon, it would be an attractive acquisition to bring the WWE in-house since
the company has seen a massive 30% slump in its stock so far this year. The
current market cap of WWE, following the drop in the stock market in 2020, is
at under $4 billion. This marks a fine opportunity for Amazon to strike a deal
with WWE as compared to it was a few months earlier when WWE was still
rejoicing in the stock market.

WWE’s
performance in 2019 wasn’t optimistic either with share prices losing around
15% last year. The company opened in the stock market at around $75 per share
in January 2019 and was seen trading as low as around $64 towards the end of last
year.

Amazon
is yet to respond to a request for its comment on Laura Martin’s prediction.