COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 16. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Claims and Litigation The Company is involved in legal proceedings, claims and governmental investigations arising in the normal course of business. The types of allegations that arise in connection with such legal proceedings vary in nature, but can include contract, employment, tax and intellectual property matters. The Company evaluates all cases and records liabilities for losses from legal proceedings when the Company determines that it is probable that the outcome will be unfavorable and the amount, or potential range, of loss can be reasonably estimated. While any outcome related to litigation or such governmental proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, management believes that the outcome of these matters, except as otherwise may be discussed below, individually or in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In July 2017, the Italian Competition Authority ("ICA") issued a decision opening an investigation into alleged breaches of competition law in Italy, involving inter alia IMG, and relating to bidding for certain media rights of the Serie A and Serie B football leagues. In April 2018, the European Commission conducted on-site inspections at a number of companies that are involved with sports media rights, including the Company. The inspections were part of an ongoing investigation into the sector and into potential violations of certain antitrust laws that may have taken place within it. The Company investigated these ICA matters, as well as other regulatory compliance matters. In May 2019, the ICA completed its investigation and fined the Company approximately EUR 0.3 million. As part of its decision, the ICA acknowledged the Company’s cooperation and ongoing compliance efforts since the investigation commenced. In July 2019, three football clubs (the "Original Plaintiffs") and in June 2020, the Serie A football league (Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A or "Lega Nazionale," and together with the three clubs, the "Plaintiffs") each filed separate claims against IMG and certain other unrelated parties in the Court of Milan, Italy, alleging that IMG engaged in anti-competitive practices with regard to bidding for certain media rights of the Serie A and Serie B football league. The Plaintiffs seek damages from all defendants deriving from the lower value of the media rights in amounts totaling EUR 554.6 million in the aggregate relating to the three football clubs and EUR 1,750 million relating to Lega Nazionale, along with attorneys’ fees and costs. Since December 2020, four additional football clubs have each filed requests to intervene in the Lega Nazionale proceedings and individually seek to claim damages deriving from the lower value of the media rights in the aggregate totaling EUR 251.5 million. The Original Plaintiffs and these four additional clubs are also seeking additional damages relating to alleged lost profits and additional charges, quantified in the fourth quarter of 2022 in amounts totaling EUR 1,675 million. Ten other clubs also filed requests to intervene in support of Lega Nazionale’s claim or alternatively to individually claim damages deriving from the lower value of the media rights in the amount of EUR 284.9 million, in the case of five clubs, and unspecified amounts (to be quantified as a percentage of the total amount sought by Lega Nazionale) in the other five cases. Collectively, the interventions of these 14 clubs are the "Interventions." By judgment issued on May 8, 2024, the Court of Milan ruled that the clubs have a concurrent right to bring a claim, and Lega Nazionale is entitled to retain an award of only 10 % of the aggregate loss suffered (if any) by the clubs deriving from the lower value of the media rights. The Company may appeal this ruling. In December 2022, one further football club filed a separate claim against IMG and certain other unrelated parties seeking damages from all defendants deriving from the lower value of the media rights in the amounts of EUR 326.9 million, in addition to alleged additional damages relating to lost profits and additional charges which have not yet been quantified. The Company has defended in its submissions to date, and intends to continue to defend, against all of the damages claims, Interventions and any related claims, and management believes that the Company has meritorious defenses to these claims, including the absence of actual damage. The Company may also be subject to regulatory and other claims and actions with respect to these ICA and other regulatory matters. Any judgment entered against the Company or settlement entered into, including with respect to claims or actions brought by other parties, could materially and adversely impact the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. On April 12, 2024, purported stockholder Handelsbanken Fonder AB (“Handelsbanken”) filed a verified class action complaint on behalf of itself and similarly situated Endeavor stockholders in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, captioned Handelsbanken Fonder AB v. Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., C.A. No. 2024-0391 ("Handelsbanken Action"), and filed a Motion for Expedited Proceedings. The Handelsbanken Action names as defendants the Company and certain of its affiliates, members of the Company’s board of directors, Mark Shapiro, Silver Lake and certain of its affiliates, Wildcat EGH Holdco, L.P., Wildcat Opco Holdco, L.P., The Ariel Z. Emanuel Living Trust, dated November 13, 2017, and The Patrick Whitesell Revocable Trust, dated May 31, 2019, and alleges breach of charter, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting claims arising from the Company’s proposed transaction with Silver Lake. The Court held a hearing on Handelsbanken's motion on May 6, 2024, during which the Court determined that a ruling on the motion, if any, should come after the deadline for certain officers and directors to make stock rollover elections, which deadline is ninety days after the date of each of the rollover agreements, dated April 2, 2024. In April 2024, the Company also received multiple requests from purported stockholders seeking certain books and records in connection with the Company’s proposed transaction with Silver Lake under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Five related class-action lawsuits were filed against Zuffa between December 2014 and March 2015 by a total of eleven former UFC fighters. The lawsuits, which were substantially identical, were transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada and consolidated into a single action in June 2015, captioned Le et al. v. Zuffa, LLC, No. 2:15-cv-1045-RFB-BNW (D. Nev.) (the "Le" case). The lawsuit alleged that Zuffa violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopsonizing an alleged market for the services of elite professional MMA athletes. The fighter plaintiffs claimed that Zuffa’s alleged conduct injured them by artificially depressing the compensation they received for their services, and they sought treble damages under the antitrust laws, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, and, in some instances, injunctive relief. On August 9, 2023, the district court certified the lawsuit as a damages class action, encompassing the period from December 16, 2010 to June 30, 2017. The fighter plaintiffs in the Le case abandoned their claim for injunctive relief, so the only relief the fighter plaintiffs would have sought at trial was damages. On June 24, 2021, another lawsuit, Johnson et al. v. Zuffa, LLC et al., No 2:21-cv-1189-RFB-BNW (D. Nev.) (the "Johnson" case), was filed by a putative class of former UFC fighters and covering the period from July 1, 2017 to the present and alleged substantially similar claims to the Le case and sought injunctive relief. On March 13, 2024, TKO OpCo, and certain of its affiliates, including Endeavor, reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits (Le and Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $ 335.0 million payable by TKO and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time with $ 200.0 million expected to be due within the next twelve months from March 31, 2024 and $ 135.0 million expected to be due in April 2025. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company recorded a charge of $ 335.0 million in selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statement of operations. T he terms have been memorialized in a long form agreement and will be submitted to the court for approval. The Company anticipates that the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes. As announced in June 2022, a Special Committee of independent members of WWE’s board of directors (the "Special Committee") was formed to investigate alleged misconduct by WWE’s then-Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon (the "Special Committee Investigation"). Mr. McMahon initially resigned from all positions held with WWE on July 22, 2022 but remained a stockholder with a controlling interest and served as Executive Chairman of WWE’s board of directors from January 9, 2023 through September 12, 2023, at which time Mr. McMahon became Executive Chair of the Board of Directors of TKO. Although the Special Committee investigation is complete, and, in January 2024, Mr. McMahon resigned from his position as Executive Chair and member of TKO's Board of Directors, as well as other positions, employment and otherwise, at TKO and its subsidiaries, WWE has received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas, demands and/or other claims and complaints arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters. On July 17, 2023, federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury subpoena on Mr. McMahon. No charges have been brought in these investigations. WWE has received voluntary and compulsory legal demands for documents, including from federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, concerning the investigation and related subject matters. On January 25, 2024, a former WWE employee filed a lawsuit against WWE, Mr. McMahon and another former WWE executive in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut alleging, among other things, that she was sexually assaulted by Mr. McMahon and asserting claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. On November 17, 2023, a purported former stockholder of WWE, Laborers' District Council and Contractors' Pension Fund of Ohio ("Laborers"), filed a verified class action complaint on behalf of itself and similarly situated former WWE stockholders in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware ("Delaware Court"), captioned Laborers District Council and Contractors’ Pension Fund of Ohio v. McMahon, C.A. No. 2023-1166-JTL (“Laborers Action”). On November 20, 2023, another purported former WWE stockholder, Dennis Palkon, filed a verified class action complaint on behalf of himself and similarly situated former WWE stockholders in the Delaware Court, captioned Palkon v. McMahon, C.A. No. 2023-1175-JTL (“Palkon Action”). The Laborers and Palkon Actions allege breach of fiduciary duty claims against former WWE directors Vincent K. McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George A. Barrios, Steve Koonin, Michelle D. Wilson, and Frank A. Riddick III (collectively, the "Individual Defendants"), arising out of the TKO Transactions. On April 24, 2024, the City of Pontiac Reestablished General Employees' Retirement System (“Pontiac”), a purported former stockholder of WWE, filed another verified class action complaint on behalf of itself and similarly situated former WWE stockholders in the Delaware Court captioned City of Pontiac Reestablished General Employees’ Retirement System v. McMahon, C.A. No. 2024-0432 (“Pontiac Action”). The Pontiac Action similarly alleges breach of fiduciary duty claims against the Individual Defendants, and adds claims against WWE and TKO for denying stockholders their appraisal rights under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware ("DGCL") § 262, as well as claims against the Company for aiding and abetting the alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and for civil conspiracy to violate DGCL § 262. On May 2, 2024, the Court entered an order consolidating the Laborers, Palkon, and Pontiac actions under the caption In re World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Merger Litigation, C.A. No. 2023-1166-JTL (“Consolidated Action”). The Consolidated Action is in the early stages, and the parties agreed that the Company, TKO and WWE will not be required to respond to the complaints until a lead plaintiff is appointed and the lead plaintiff designates an operative pleading. On January 4, 2024, Pontiac filed an action in the Delaware Court seeking certain books and records related to the TKO Transactions under Section 220 of the DGCL (the "Pontiac 220 Action"). On February 12, 2024, the court entered an order vacating the case schedule and staying the Pontiac 220 Action. On April 2, 2024, Pontiac voluntarily dismissed its complaint. |