TKO’s Revenues Top $4.7 Billion | Wrestling TV Ratings Rebound | Pollock & Thurston
POST Wrestling
POST Wrestling
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston go through TKO’s year-end earnings report, new details on the UFC White House card, and big projections for 2026.
Plus, Brandon Thurston examines the rebound in professional wrestling TV ratings following Nielsen's recent methodology adjustments.
00:00:00 Start
00:01:22 WBD accepts higher bid from Paramount Skydance, Netflix bows out
00:09:48 TKO’s Q4 and Year-End Earnings Report
00:22:43 Royal Rumble FIP from Saudi Arabia
00:28:22 UFC event at the White House
00:38:48 Latest WrestleMania ticket figures, per WrestleTix
00:40:30 Wrestling TV ratings rebound for Nielsen adjustments
00:50:52 NXT Stand & Deliver in St. Louis
00:52:52 Zuffa Boxing signs Connor Benn, fight announced for April 11
00:54:19 New complaint filed against UFC
00:55:30 Paramount president accused of leaking key details of UFC deal
00:57:06 Elimination Chamber at the United Center
01:00:00 Xfinity subscribers gain access to ESPN Unlimited
01:01:49 TV and streaming figures
Additional reading:
- Wrestling TV ratings rebound after Nielsen’s adjustments - https://wrestlenomics.com/articles/2026/wrestling-tv-ratings-rebound-after-nielsen-adjusts-big-data-panel-methodology/
- Netflix declines to raise bid for Warner Bros. - https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-declines-to-raise-offer-for-warner-bros
- Whistleblower claims Paramount head leaked details of UFC deal - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-president-jeff-shell-leaked-details-of-ultimate-fighting-championship-deal-rj-cipriani-1236514207/
- WBD Earnings - https://variety.com/2026/film/news/hbo-max-subscribers-132-million-warner-bros-discovery-earnings-1236673104/
- Boxing braced for $1 billion lawsuit over TKO & Sela’s Zuffa launch - https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070249/2026/02/25/frank-warren-dana-white-sela-lawsuit/
- ESPN Unlimited finally coming to Xfinity subscribers - https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn-unlimited-finally-coming-to-xfinity-subscribers.html
Music courtesy: “Panic Beat” by Ben Tramer
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Brandon Thurston from Ressalonomics is up next, and we're going to follow Brandon with John Pollack from post-restle. |
| 0:07.0 | Delivering on the returns, increasing our margins. |
| 0:11.0 | Radies go down the toilet if I'm not here. |
| 0:14.0 | All I do is simply put the math in my favor. |
| 0:18.0 | We agree that Brandon and John do good work. |
| 0:24.5 | The reason is simple wrestling economics. |
| 0:27.8 | I've been told the Netflix numbers. |
| 0:30.9 | I've been told the metrics a little bit, probably five different times. |
| 0:31.7 | I still don't get it. |
| 0:35.7 | There were respectable wrestling journalists who needed answers. |
| 0:38.3 | Thank you very much, members of the media. I hope you all go to hell. |
| 0:40.5 | How about we pop a number right here, right now? |
| 0:49.0 | A whole part of the show, ma'am. |
| 0:51.5 | Welcome to the still independently owned Pollock and Thurston. |
| 0:57.5 | Brandon, we have not been absorbed by any entities, correct? There has been no bid for us. We are still |
| 1:03.8 | independent. We're always open for business. We're always open for business. |
| 1:11.7 | That is correct. |
| 1:15.3 | As was Warner Brothers Discovery, it turned out. |
| 1:22.0 | And what a climactic, well, do we believe this is, is this the conclusion, Brandon? |
| 1:23.9 | Do we feel, is this it? |
| 1:26.1 | Is there more to come? |
| 1:32.3 | It feels as though one side has prevailed and the other is stepping aside and generously withdrawing its $82 billion and it's going to hold on to its $82 billion. |
... |
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