WWE® Unveils Inaugural NIL Class

December 08, 2021 at 09:00 AM EST

15 College Athletes Including The Cavinder Twins and A.J. Ferrari Join WWE’s “Next In Line™” Program

WWE (NYSE: WWE) today unveiled 15 college athletes who will be among the first to participate in the company’s newly formed NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) program that provides a clear pathway from collegiate athletics to WWE.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211208005618/en/

WWE® UNVEILS INAUGURAL NIL CLASS (Photo: Business Wire)

The inaugural “Next In Line™” class includes athletes from 13 universities, seven NCAA conferences and four sports. In addition to the United States, the class includes representation from myriad countries spanning from Canada and Nigeria. The following 15 athletes join Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in WWE’s first-of-its-kind NIL program:

Name	School	Sport	Height/Weight	Hometown
Carlos Aviles	Ohio State	Track & Field	6’ 6”, 305 lbs.	Ventura, Calif.
Haley Cavinder	Fresno State	Basketball	5’ 6”	Gilbert, Ariz.
Hanna Cavinder	Fresno State	Basketball	5’ 6”	Gilbert, Ariz.
A.J. Ferrari	Oklahoma State	Wrestling	6’, 200 lbs.	Dallas, Texas
Lexi Gordon	Duke	Basketball	6’	Fort Worth, Texas
Aleeya Hutchins	Wake Forest	Track & Field	5’ 5”	Toronto, Canada
John Krahn	Portland State	Football	7’, 400 lbs.	Riverside, Calif.
Glen Logan	LSU	Football	6’ 5”, 305 lbs.	Kennar, La.
Isaac Odugbesan	Alabama	Track & Field	6’ 4”, 275 lbs.	Lagos, Nigeria
Mason Parris	Michigan	Wrestling	6’ 2”, 275 lbs.	Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Masai Russell	Kentucky	Track & Field	5’ 5”	Potomac, Md.
Jon Seaton	Elon	Football	6’ 1”, 285 lbs.	Hillsborough, N.J.
Joe Spivak	Northwestern	Football	6’, 300 lbs.	Lombard, Ill.
Dalton Wagner	Arkansas	Football	6’ 9”, 330 lbs.	Spring Grove, Ill.
Riley White	Alabama	Track & Field	5’ 6”	Hoover, Ala.

WWE’s NIL program was announced last week following the NCAA’s historic new policy that took effect on July 1, 2021, which has ushered in the NIL era allowing college athletes the ability to monetize their name, image and likeness. The comprehensive program serves to recruit and develop potential future Superstars, and further enhances WWE’s talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds.

All athlete partnerships will feature access to the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., in addition to resources across the organization including brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the NIL program, select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to be offered a WWE contract.

Learn more about the “Next In Line” program at WWE.com/NIL.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 900 million homes worldwide in 28 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.

Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business, results of operations and financial condition; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; a rapidly evolving media landscape; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including without limitation, claims alleging traumatic brain injury; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the volatility of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211208005618/en/

Contacts

Media:

Greg Domino

973-620-1025

Greg.Domino@wwecorp.com

Investor:

Michael Weitz

203-352-8642

Michael.Weitz@wwecorp.com

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WWE® Unveils Inaugural NIL Class

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