WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced the appointment of Blake Bilstad as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary. Bilstad will be a key member of WWE's senior leadership team and report directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

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Blake Bilstad, WWE Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary (Photo: Business Wire)

Blake Bilstad, WWE Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary (Photo: Business Wire)

As General Counsel, Bilstad will be responsible for overseeing the legal and business affairs of the company and serving as the principal legal advisor to the Chairman, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer, and management team. He will also serve as Corporate Secretary to WWE’s Board of Directors.

Bilstad brings nearly 20 years of experience as General Counsel in digital media, internet, e-commerce and emerging technology companies. Prior to joining WWE, Bilstad was General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Legal & Public Affairs at Provide Commerce, where he spent more than 10 years overseeing all legal matters and public affairs for the e-commerce group that owns ProFlowers, RedEnvelope, Shari’s Berries, Sincerely, Personal Creations and Gifts.com.

Prior to his tenure with Provide Commerce, Bilstad was the Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs at Vivendi Universal Net USA, the parent company that owned MP3.com, MP4.com, EMusic.com, GetMusic.com, RollingStone.com, the Flipside Network and Education.com. During his time at Vivendi Universal, and in his prior role at MP3.com, Bilstad oversaw all corporate legal matters, ushering MP3.com through a high-profile initial public offering and closing more than a dozen mergers and acquisitions transactions, including the sale of MP3.com to Vivendi and then ultimately to CNET. He also served as the responsible Privacy Officer, Corporate Compliance Officer and Secretary for each VUNet USA entity and their subsidiaries, totaling 38 companies and four operating divisions at the group’s peak.

Bilstad began his career as a business associate at the law firm Cooley Godward LLP, where he represented emerging technology and life sciences companies, venture funds and investment banks. He also clerked at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.

He earned his Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History magna cum laude from Duke University.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 35 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all 12 live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 175 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.

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Forward-Looking Statements: This press 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, without limitation, risks relating to: WWE Network; major distribution agreements; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our revolving credit facility; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements.