Stamford Conn. February 15 2001 – WWE Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:WWE) today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended January 26 2001. Net Revenues were $111.2 million or a 13% increase over the same period last year. Earnings per share excluding the start-up costs for the new football league the XFL were $0.24 or essentially the same as last year on a comparable basis. Earnings per share including the start-up costs for the XFL were $0.16. The Company achieved EBITDA (earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization and non-cash charges for performer stock options) for its core operations of $23.4 million. During the quarter the Company incurred net start-up costs of $7.0 million associated with the XFL.

"We delivered another quarter of double-digit revenue growth principally due to the strong performance of our Live and Televised businesses " said Linda E. McMahon Chief Executive Officer. "The demand for our live events television programming and pay-per-views remains strong. We are pleased that TNN has significantly improved its ratings programming mix and distribution. We continue to collaborate with TNN on its rebranding and clearance efforts."

Mrs. McMahon further commented "We are particularly excited about the kick off of our new football league the XFL. Fan interest and enthusiasm as reflected in the strong ticket sales and excellent TV ratings are key factors in the successful launch of our new brand."

"We recently completed the first round of a comprehensive research effort to better understand the demographics viewing habits and consumer orientation of our audience. The research affirmed what we suspected : families watch our programs together. It is also interesting to note that the families who took part in the research watch WWE programming and are above the national average in income education and internet use and represent a cross section of America. We recently presented the initial findings of our research at the NATPE convention in Las Vegas and they were well received by the advertising community. Going forward we intend to utilize this research in our brand building and marketing strategies " Mrs. McMahon concluded.

The Company experienced continued strength in its key revenue drivers for the quarter. Pay-per-view buys increased over 12% to 1.8 million buys compared to 1.6 million for the same period last year. The average ratings remained strong as Raw is War delivered a 5.0 rating while SmackDown! achieved a rating of 4.6 for the quarter as advertising revenues were comparable with last year.

During the quarter the Company sold its property in Las Vegas and recorded a pre-tax gain on the sale of $1.2 million.

Quarterly Results by Business Segment

Live and Televised

• Revenues increased 21% to $79.5 million compared to the same period last year primarily due to increased domestic and international television rights fees and pay-per-view revenues.
• Television Rights Fees increased due to our new agreement with Viacom as well as new and renewed agreements with our international distributors.
• The increase in pay-per-view buys was due to a 12% increase in domestic pay-per-view buys and significantly more international buys reflecting the benefits of our contracts with BSKYB in the United Kingdom and the introduction of the Fanatix series.
• Average ticket prices for our live events were $33.36 versus $28.21 in the third quarter last year.

Branded Merchandise

• Revenues for total branded merchandise were $31.7 million or approximately the same as the prior year.
• The inclusion of revenues from WWE New York and an increase in Publishing revenues were offset by lower Licensing Home Video and New Media advertising revenues.
• Per capita sales of merchandise at live events were $7.29 versus $7.08 last year.

Profit Contribution Margins

• The Company’s profit contribution margin of 42% was roughly the same as last year’s fiscal third quarter.
• Live and Televised profit contribution margin increased to 43% from 41% due to an increase in television rights fees and pay-per-view revenues.
• Profit contribution margin for Branded Merchandise declined to 40% from 45% as a result of a change in the mix of the revenues.

Selling General & Administrative Expenses

The increase in SG&A expenses was principally due to increased costs associated with the inclusion of WWE New York coupled with additional costs associated with the expansion of the Company’s infrastructure required to support the growth of the business.

Year-to-Date Results

Revenues for the nine months ended January 26 2001 increased by roughly 24% to $324.9 million compared to $262.9 million last year. Live and Televised revenues increased approximately 33% principally due to pay-per-views television rights fees and advertising revenues. Branded Merchandise revenues increased approximately 5% to $88.6 million compared to the same period last year.

Highlights of Recent Activities

WWE Highlights

• Tickets for the upcoming Wrestlemania at the Reliant Astrodome are currently in excess of 59 300 and are on track to break the attendance record of 65 943 tickets sold.
• WWE Entertainment action figures were named the "Best Boys Toy of the Year" for the second consecutive year by the British Association of toy retailers.
• Since its debut in November SmackDown!2 has been the #1 selling title for the PlayStation game console and the video game No Mercy sold through roughly 750 000 units worldwide in just two months.
• Three new introductions in the book category achieved impressive positions on The New York Times Best Seller list : Chyna’s new book If They Only Knew was #3 after one week of sales. Can You Take the Heat (WWE Cookbook) achieved the #6 position in its category; and Mick Foley’s Christmas Chaos was #4 in its category.
• The WWE was named the #1 streaming media site with 7.5 million video on demand streams per month for all web properties beating out the likes of CNN MSNBC Weather.com and ESPN to name a few according to the research firm DFC Intelligence.
• On average there were 3.6 million unique visitors to the WWE websites an increase of 16% for the quarter.
• Page views served increased 47% to 244 million served per month for the quarter.

XFL Highlights

• Total attendance for the first eight XFL games was 267 903 or 72% ahead of plan.
• Year-to-date ticket sales represent 79% of ticket revenue goal.
• The XFL kicked off with over $40 million in advertising with 43 advertisers including a roster of traditional sports advertisers.
• 33% of the XFL advertisers are new as they previously did not advertise on WWE programming.
• Ratings for the XFL games on NBC averaged 6.9 for the first two games.
• Ratings on UPN averaged 3.0 for the first two games.
• TNN achieved a 2.4 cable rating and a 1.9 household rating for its first game a 500% increase over its season-to-date ratings for the time period.
• Approximately 70% of viewers that watched the first week of games also tuned in to watch the second week of games.

Results of Research on WWE Consumers *

• Income : 16% higher than the national average
• Employment : 62% categorize their occupations as "professional" or "white collar".
• Education : 30% have attained a four-year college degree (national norm is 20%).
• 83% watch two WWE programs per week with their viewing children.
• 77% watch all three major WWE programs (SmackDown! Raw is War Heat).
• 93% of SmackDown! adult viewers watch with their children while 91% of Raw is War and Heat viewers watch with their children.
• 83% of parents of 2-11 year-olds and 70% of parents of 12-16 year-olds discuss characters content and context of WWE programming with them.

Note: The research was based on 1 500 random surveys of adults 25-54 all of whom were viewers of WWE programming. Of the respondents 500 had children at home ages 2-11; another 500 had children ages 12-16; and 500 had no children in these age ranges.

* Research conducted by Applied Research & Consulting LLC (ARC)

Forward-Looking Statements: This news 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 the conditions of the markets for live events broadcast television cable television pay-per-view Internet food and beverage entertainment professional sports and licensed merchandise; acceptance of the Company’s brands media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties relating to litigation and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated.

Contacts:

Investors: Thomas Gibbons Vice President Investor Relations WWE Entertainment Inc. (203) 328-2576
Media: Gary Davis Vice President Communications WWE Inc. (203) 353-5066.