WWE Network Updated Subscriber Count Revealed in 2020 Q1 Earning Results

WWE revealed its WWE Network subscriber count for the first quarter of 2020 as part of its Q1 earnings report released Thursday.

According to WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton, WWE had a total of 2.10 million subscribers as of April 6. For the entire Q1, WWE Network had an average of 1.46 million paid subscribers and 640,000 free subscribers.

The WWE Network numbers were up compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 when it averaged 1.389 million paid subscribers and 70,000 free subscribers.

WWE Network saw a huge bump in free subscribers during Q1 for multiple reasons. The fact that the two-night WrestleMania 36 occurred in Q1 was among them, as well as WWE's decision to open up part of the WWE Network library for free during the coronavirus pandemic.

WWE has continued to run Raw, SmackDown and NXT weekly during the COVID-19 outbreak. Raw and SmackDown have been emanating from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, while NXT has been taking place at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.

The company also went ahead with WrestleMania 36, which was originally planned for Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, before getting moved to Orlando with no fans in attendance.

The world's current circumstances and the fact that WrestleMania was a two-night event likely both played a role in the uptick in subscriber count.

WWE has managed to weather the storm during a difficult financial landscape, as it reported a net income of $26.2 million for Q1 compared to an $8.4 million loss in the first quarter of 2019.

In preparation for the earnings fall, WWE made cuts across the board two weeks ago, as it released several lower-card wrestlers and furloughed employees in several different departments.

With lucrative television deals for SmackDown (Fox) and Raw (NBC Universal), WWE is in position to remain profitable even if the coronavirus pandemic prevents it from running live shows in front of fans for the foreseeable future.  

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