WWE News: Vince McMahon comments on second quarter financial report, WrestleMania 27 produces $35.9 million in revenue

WWE released its second quarter financial report for 2011 on Thursday. Revenues totaled 142.6 million compared to 106.8 million the prior year quarter. Operating income was $21.0 million compared to 10.3 million in the prior year quarter.

"Through the second quarter, WWE has generated top-line growth across our four business segments led by the strength of WrestleMania. WrestleMania XXVII achieved more than 1 million pay-per-view buys worldwide and reached record levels of both revenue and profit,” stated Vince McMahon in a press release. 

"Our earnings, however, were constrained by the performance of our movie business, adverse home video sales trends, and the status of our talent development. Key operating metrics, such as average live event attendance and pay-per-view buys showed declines in the second quarter when evaluated on a comparable basis to last year (excluding WrestleMania). But, while our key metrics were down, the gap to our prior year performance continued to diminish. 

"We believe this trend demonstrates that we are making important progress on our talent development and creative initiatives. As we continue to evaluate the potential of different forms of distribution, such as a WWE Network, we are more confident than ever that we can create and monetize content in a variety of existing and new media, and thereby create meaningful incremental value for our shareholders." You can read the full press release at Businesswire.com.

Powell's POV: WrestleMania 27 fell in the second quarter this year, whereas WrestleMania 26 actually fell into the first quarter numbers in 2010. WWE is reporting that WrestleMania 27 contributed $35.9 million in revenue, so if you deduct that from the quarter's profit total, the revenue earned in the second quarter this year is about the same as what the company produced in the same quarter last year.