According to a report from Ben Fowlkes of Uncrowned, TKO employees are reportedly frustrated with the parent company of WWE and UFC moving forward with events in Saudi Arabia despite ongoing military conflict in the country.
Fowlkes notes sources told Uncrowned that several of TKO’s employees have grown increasingly frustrated at the company’s insistence on going through with events in Riyadh even when missile and drone attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen continue.
A recent attack happened in Riyadh’s financial district just hours after Saturdauy’s WWE Crown Jewel event ended. While it was confirmed in other reports that WWE Superstars left by the time a missile struck a tower owned by the state-run Aramco oil company on Sunday, some of TKO’s employees said they felt their safety has been little more than an afterthought.
A source, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, told Uncrowned, “Why are you still even having these shows at this point?” I think the answer is, if they chose not to do the show, they would lose out on millions and millions of dollars.” The source continued on by saying, “If we don’t do the shows in Saudi Arabia or [United Arab Emirates] or Doha or wherever we are going, then our fourth-quarter earnings will be off and our shareholders aren’t going to get their money So it’s all about greed. They don’t care about anybody’s well-being. The level of greed with this company is so gross.”
Uncrowned reached out to TKO representatives for comment regarding safety concerns expressed by its employees and the decision to move forward with events in Saudi Arabia. Uncrowned notes at the time of their report, TKO did not respond.
A source inside TKO told Uncrowned, “All [TKO executives] talk about is if the State Department says it is OK to fly there. The rest of us are like, ‘If the State Department has to think about it at all, let’s just postpone.’ That’s what all the other sports are doing. Why can’t TKO?”
Ahead of a UFC Fight Night event planned to be held in Riyadh on December 5, some TKO employees told Uncrowned they are increasingly upset with what they see as a disregard for employee safety and a lack of communication about potential contingency plans.
“Not one email has gone out saying, ‘Here are the details and the plans for December 5th.’ That’s crazy,” said one source. “They don’t tell you anything. They just throw it at you. How about a backup plan? How about a safety letter? ‘Hey, if x happens, we go do y. We’ll all meet here. We’ll do this. We’ll do that.’ Nothing.”
Furthermore, now, with added concerns regarding the continued ongoing military conflict, some within TKO have stated that executive leadership is not taking their safety seriously enough.
A source told Uncrowned, TKO does not care about about their employees and people within the company are tired of how they are being treated. “They don’t f—–g care about you one bit. People are just getting tired of the way they’re getting treated. They get treated like s– and everybody’s tired of it. The lack of communication, the greed, the lack of appreciation, people are just sick of it.”
Other sources have told Uncrowned that events in Saudi Arabia and the risks that come with traveling and working from what is essentially an active conflict zone, have pushed some off TKO’s employees to their breaking point. One longtime TKO employee told Uncrowned the mood among staff had darkened after the company refused to move or postpone events even after airports had been attacked in Saudi Arabia. It was added that some of the employees under the TKO banner have said communication from top executives has been lacking, despite during a recent company town hall meeting, Mark Shapiro, TKO’s President and Chief Operating assured employees the company would “not hesitate” to cancel or postpone events in the region in the face of “danger or a further escalation” in the military conflict.
Also during the company town hall meeting, Shapiro acknowledged canceling the events in Saudi Arabia would impact business in “a very negative way,” but then said “business is secondary” to employee safety. However, Shapiro added TKO is currently on track for an lucrative year financially, which was noted in the company’s third-quarter earnings report, which included an increased targeted revenue of $5.83 billion for the year.
A source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Uncrowned, “Everyone is talking about the Middle East shows, Who has to go, who can get out of going. Some people say they are waiting until the time to fly comes and telling [executives] that they won’t go. But I don’t know how many will follow through with that. This is a company that can fire you for no reason or any reason. Everyone just can’t believe this is a choice that they are being forced to make — fly into a war zone or risk getting fired before Christmas.” Former and current employees described a company culture at that is shortsighted and focused on maximizing short-term profitability, with little regard for employees who keep the company going.
One source told Uncrowned, “We’ve come to the realization, this is what it is. We’re going to either have to accept it or leave, because nothing’s going to change at this point. But it’s time to get called out. People think it’s fine and you get taken care of. People realize the fighters get paid s—. I mean, that’s obvious. You guys have covered that aspect of it. People know, and the fighters are starting to speak up for themselves, but it doesn’t stop with them. That’s the message I want to get across. Everyone across the whole company gets treated like s—, whether you’re a fighter or a camera guy.”
A report this past Tuesday from F4WOnline noted a match between Gunther and Finn Balor was ultimately dropped from Crown Jewel’s lineup because Gunther decided against traveling to Saudi Arabia. However it was also noted that Balor had reservations about making the trip, but the belief internally was that he would have traveled had Gunther agreed to participate.
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