The man who advised WWE and spearheaded the negotiations of the new television deal was Chris Bevilacqua, the co-founder of Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures, a company based in New York City which focuses on media and commercial rights advisory services and investment opportunities in sports and entertainment.
While Bevilacqua track record is pretty impressive and the man has negotiated some great deals for different networks and sports teams, the latest WWE deal will probably never make it on his resume.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Bevilacqua and WWE had talks with Turner Broadcasting, FX Networks, and AMC Networks, to see if they’re willing to pay the price tag that WWE was looking for but none of them splashed the cash.
This left NBC Universal in a great position where the tables were turned and it was them who were somewhat in control of the negotiations after no other network decided to pony up the money for the WWE television shows.
Instead of WWE now demanding the money they wanted, it was NBC Universal who pretty much offered what now they wanted and WWE simply had to accept or end up homeless come October.
Brad Safalow of PAA Research, who last year was told by Vince McMahon during a conference call that he’d let him put him in a hammerlock if they don’t double up on their deal, said that in general, WWE investors remained highly skeptical of its management as both WWE Network and TV rights fees fell short of expectations.
“Investors are left with a feeling that the company consistently overpromises and underdelivers,” he wrote.
