Q2 2026 TKO Group Holdings Inc Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- TKO Group Holdings Inc (TKO) raised its full-year 2026 guidance for revenue and adjusted EBITDA, reflecting strong operating performance across its businesses.
- UFC Freedom 250 was a major success, generating over $1 billion in earned media value, attracting 130,000 fans to the Fan Fest, and adding 25 new marketing partners, many with multi-year deals.
- The FIFA World Cup hospitality program through On Location surpassed $2 billion in sales, exceeding expectations and contributing to a strong quarter for the IMG segment.
- UFC's partnership with Paramount+ is delivering strong results, with 20 million subscriber households watching over 200 million hours of UFC programming since the start of the year.
- The company is making significant progress on its financial incentive packages (FIPs) strategy, with a landmark multi-property deal in Arizona and a target of $380-$420 million by 2030 on plan.
- Zufa Boxing is growing ahead of schedule, with successful international events, new media partnerships, and the signing of top talent like Shakur Stevenson.
- The company returned over $1.3 billion to shareholders year-to-date through dividends and share repurchases and plans to commence additional buybacks due to a perceived stock price dislocation.
- UFC Freedom 250 resulted in an approximately $30 million loss, which negatively impacted UFC and consolidated margins for the quarter.
- WWE's live events revenue decreased 18% in Q2, primarily due to lower ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 compared to the prior year's record event.
- The company incurred significantly higher costs due to an increased number of international events, which impacted WWE's margins in the quarter.
- The IMG business saw a slight revenue decrease due to the expiration of certain deals, most notably a contract for Italy's premier professional cycling event.
- Free cash flow conversion was 54% in Q2, below the company's target of 60%, due to unfavorable working capital impacts from the new Paramount media rights deal.
- The company is closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, which could have potential implications for its business and planned events in the region.
Hello everyone.
Thank you for joining us and welcome to TKO's second quarter 2026 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again.
I will now hand the conference over to Seth Zaslow, Head of Investor Relations. Seth, please go ahead.
Good afternoon and welcome to TKO's second quarter 2026 earnings call.
A short while ago, we issued a press release, which you can view on our Investor Relations website.
A recording of this call will also be available via our website for at least 30 days.
After prepared remarks from Ari Emanuel, TKO's Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer.
Mark Shapiro, TKO's President and Chief Operating Officer, and Andrew Schleimer, TKO's Chief Financial Officer, will open the call for questions.
Mark and Andrew will
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