Nick Khan says WWE sale will happen ‘quick,’ possibly within three months

WWE CEO Nick Khan said on Friday that he feels a sale of the company will happen “quick” and speculated a deal may be done within three months. 

Khan appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about Thursday’s earnings call and gave the above timeframe when asked about it. Dave Meltzer had previously reported the company had been hoping to sell by mid-summer.

As far as potential buyers, co-host David Faber told Khan that he has heard “probably not at this point” in regard to NBCUniversal buying WWE. The corporation has had a longtime partnership with WWE and currently pays them both for WWE Raw and WWE Network content on Peacock for domestic viewers.

Another co-host mentioned Netflix and Amazon while Faber also brought up Endeavor who owns the UFC. Khan said that “we’re still bullish on Comcast (aka NBCUniversal) being possible.”

“We certainly got a warm reception in the marketplace for those who are interested,” he said. He also explained they didn’t want to wait to sell the company until after the next TV rights negotiations as that would take prospective buyers off the table.

He again reiterated that there would be “no issue” with Vince McMahon not being involved with WWE post-sale if it’s the right deal for the company. 

“I really believe he’s looking for the best value for shareholders,” Khan said, also reiterating that McMahon is not involved “at all” in creative.

In a CNBC article posted after the interview, it was posited that “McMahon’s potential future involvement in WWE has become an early sticking point in preliminary talks with various buyers, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.”

The question was first asked publicly of Khan during the Q&A portion of Thursday’s investors call to which Khan replied that McMahon would be willing to depart post-sale if that meant the best value for shareholders.