Michelle Wilson (MBA 1992), Co-President, WWE
(photo courtesy of Michelle Wilson)

Michelle Wilson (MBA 1992),
Co-President, WWE
(photo courtesy of Michelle Wilson)

While the Superdome in New Orleans was hosting WWE’s WrestleMania 30 in April 2014, Michelle Wilson sat in the bowels of the stadium, watching as one of her company’s premier events launched on 12 platforms at once. “Nobody had streamed a service at that scale before,” says Wilson. “We were holding our breath, because we were basically betting our business that this was going to be a successful pivot.”

It felt like a sharp turn not only because of the lack of precedent, but also because the WWE’s pay-per-view model wasn’t failing. It was still a viable model. But as Wilson began diving deep into consumer habits after joining WWE 10 years ago, she saw some distinct trend lines: “Our fan base was over-indexed for video consumption on these new platforms—like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu,” she says. “They were watching five times the amount of video content as the average US consumer.” She took the numbers and the direct-to-consumer streaming plans to WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who had been planning to launch a linear broadcast channel akin to the NFL or MLB networks. “It was really a tipping point, where we said, ‘Nobody else has really done that,’ and he said, ‘Well, why don’t we?’”

Five years later, the decision has transformed the WWE. In 2008, some 20 percent of the company’s revenue came from media; in 2019, it’s 70 percent. “We were very much a live event, television content business,” says Wilson. “We’re now digital and we’re creating—and monetizing—1,500 hours of content every year.” And all of that digital content is bringing in troves of data, which is being tracked and analyzed by some 70 staff data scientists, offering insights that drive strategy and programming. “We now know that live, in-ring content is the driver of viewership; and we’ve learned that documentaries are a really important driver—that kind of behind-the-scenes view of our talent,” says Wilson.

They’ve also seen spikes in viewership around their female performers, which, combined with some vocal support on social media, has led to a change in how they position their women wrestlers. The WWE has put its female Superstars, formerly named “Divas,” on par with the male performers—meaning more match time, deeper story lines, and better characters. At last year’s WrestleMania, Wilson notes, women were part of the main event for the first time ever. “And it happened because the data drove that decision-making, and the voice from our fans drove that decision-making,” she says. “To me, it’s more than a great anecdote. It really speaks to the power of data to change the storytelling.”

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