They get a fixed annual fee and the merchandise fees; based on the fact that it's not an exclusive rights deal, I'd guess that it's somewhere around $8-10m a year fixed + somewhere around $20m+ in merchandise share every year that WB takes home (off probable HP merchandise sales somewhere in the $200m+ range across the 3 park groups). An incredible earning power for a license; their take from their exclusive US deal for DC-Six Flags is somewhere in the low single digit millions for perspective like most deals of this nature (Six Flags paid $3.3 million for DC + Looney Toons in 2011, when they disclosed that on an SEC form).Do we have any guess how much WB makes off the Potter deal? I'm just curious how lucrative it is for both Uni and WB. Clearly they're all counting money hand over fist- but I'm curious how sizeable for each party.
If WB is making solid change here with minimal risk- I could see them pushing LoTR hard because, well... free money. And better brand recognition to boot done in a fantastic manner.
HP is such a phenomenal selling point for Universal. They can show that to any franchise, like LoTR- and prove to them how they are able to keep their franchise authentic, immersive, not corny as hell (Darth Goofy, anyone?), profitable, and genuinely good for the brand.
It'll be interesting to see what happens at renegotiation post-2028; obviously WB won't want to ruin a good thing, but let's be clear here, the deal has paid off many times over for Universal.