Endeavor President Discusses Plans For WWE Sponsorships

WWE

Endeavor President Mark Shapiro has commented on plans for WWE sponsorship integration, noting that he doesn’t want to over-commercialize the product.

WWE has been integrating sponsored content into shows more and more recently, with WrestleMania 39 notably earning $20 million in sponsorship revenue, a record for any WWE show.

These integrations have been criticised however, with the likes of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch theming for the Dominik vs Rey Mysterio father-son feud pulling some fans out of the moment.

Speaking on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Mark Shapiro noted that he wants sponsorship integration to be organic and authentic.

Noting that WWE and UFC will deal with their sponsorships in different ways, he said:

“You want to be authentic; you want to be seamless; you want to be organic; you want to be true to your audience.

“So, no we’re not going to put a brand on somebody’s robe walking to the ring.

“Now, by the way, do UFC fighters wear Venum apparel and Project Rock shoes when they come to the Octagon? Yes, they do.

“Could the WWE benefit from an apparel deal as such? A shoe deal as such? Absolutely.

“But we’re not going to over commercialize it, we’re not going to saturate it to the point that we cheap it out, we trick it out and you turn off the fan base.

“So, you have to find out what’s right in the ring, in the Octagon, you have to figure out what’s right in the arena, indoor, outdoor, you have to figure out what’s right with the fighter and the participants and you’ve got to walk before you run.

Here are results from the May 15 episode of WWE Raw:

Shinsuke Nakamura def. The Miz

It was announced Liv Morgan had suffered an injury and the scheduled Women’s Tag Team Championship match was cancelled

Mustafa Ali won a battle royal to become #1 contender for Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions

Becky Lynch returned and cut a promo on Trish Stratus, challenging her to a match at Night of Champions

Dominik Mysterio def. Xavier Woods

As JD McDonagh left the arena after an interview, there was a tease of Finn Balor scouting him to recruit him for Judgment Day

Indus Sher (Sanga & Veer) def. two jobbers

Cody Rhodes promo on Brock Lesnar ahead of their Night of Champions match

Raquel Rodriguez def. Chelsea Green

Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn after interference from Imperium, which had been instigated by Paul Heyman doing deals with Judgment Day and Imperium earlier in the night

Transcription via POST Wrestling. 

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