The NFL saw a media rights increase of 79% even as linear ratings went down a little bit in recent season.
In the case of the NHL, linear ratings are down about 25%.
In this context, the NHL received tremendous credit for already doubling its AAV from $200 million to $400 million, with another package still available for sale in the marketplace.
If you look at the success that we're having with our Tencent deal in China, we've seen a 30 times increase in views across all platforms in China, since striking this deal, with 30% of that coming from the viewership on Tencent.
And last Sunday, the Stone Cold Steve Austin documentary was the highest-rated biography in 16 years on A&E.
Our other show on A&E that night, WWE's Most Wanted Treasures retained 79% of that lead end audience.
This year's WrestleMania was historic for many reasons, attracting more than 50,000 fans, representing full capacity for the two-night event.
And a world went 52 days, we successfully launched our partnership with Peacock with cross-functional task forces responsible for assimilating meta data, transporting and formatting our most viewed content and creating marketing direct to consumer campaigns and one of the most comprehensive publicity plans we have ever had for WrestleMania.
WrestleMania media coverage increased 25% with over 500 individual new stories, representing 1.2 billion media impressions.
And apparently, a lot of people enjoyed seeing YouTube influencer Logan Paul gets stunned as he trended number two on Twitter and generated nearly 100 million impressions on social media alone.
WWE also secured a record 14 new and returning blue chip partners for WrestleMania, including Snickers as the presenting partner for the sixth consecutive year and presenting partner of the main event.
Video views during WrestleMania week across digital and social platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, hit 1.1 billion and 32 million hours of content were consumed, representing a 14% and 9% increase, respectively.
WWE related content saw 115 million engagements and WrestleMania was also the world's most social program, both nights of the weekend, delivering 71 Twitter trends.
We also held more than 10 community activations throughout the week, including collaborating with the Mayor's Office to customize our vaccination messaging for the local market, recognizing local community champions, teaming with FOX Sports to donate equipment to Special Olympics, Florida, and working with various organizations, including Feeding Tampa Bay to combat food and nutrition and security.
On USA Network, the following Night Raw delivered its best performance in the 18 to 49 demo in over a year and NXT's debut on its New Night on Tuesday was up 29% in the 18 to 49 demo year-over-year.
From that time to the end of this quarter, Raw ratings have held steady and SmackDown ratings increased 9%.
Notably, all Raw appearances featuring Bad Bunny showed an increase of 31% in the Hispanic persons 18 to 34 demo.
And Bad Bunny's total social impressions during the time of his story lines equaled nearly 700 million.
Digital consumption increased 7% to 367 million hours.
WWE's flagship YouTube channel crossed 75 million subscribers and is now the fourth most viewed YouTube channel in the world.
WWE sales and sponsorship revenue increased 19%, excluding the loss of a large scale international event.
As Vince, Nick and Stephanie highlighted, transitioning WWE Network to Peacock, while launching WrestleMania with a live audience of 50,000 fans in attendance is a major accomplishment.
Total WWE revenue was $263.5 million, a decline of 9% due to the cancellation of live events, including a large scale international event and the associated loss of merchandise sales, all due to COVID-19.
Despite this decline, adjusted OIBDA grew 9% to $83.9 million, reflecting the upfront recognition related to WWE's licensing agreement and the decline in operating expenses that resulted from the absence of live events.
Looking at the WWE media segment, adjusted OIBDA was $107 million, growing 4% as increased revenue and profit from WWE's licensing agreement with Peacock, as well as increased revenue from the escalation of domestic core content rights fees more than offset the absence of a large scale international event.
Our operating results continue to be impacted by the year-over-year increase in production costs associated with bringing nearly 1,000 live virtual fans into our show, surrounded by pyrotechnics, laser displays and drone cameras, we did achieve some efficiency quarter-over-quarter.
Despite a challenging environment, WWE continues to produce a significant amount of content, nearly 650 hours in the quarter across television streaming and social platforms.
Live events adjusted OIBDA was a loss of $4.3 million due to a 97% decline in live event revenue.
As we've said, we are delighted to have entertained ticketed fans and an audience of over 50,000 at WrestleMania a few weeks ago.
As examples of WWE's continuing commitment to product innovation, WWE released three new championship title belts and a suite of branded products to commemorate Stone Cold Steve Austin's 25 years at WWE.
In the first quarter, WWE generated approximately $54 million in free cash flow, which was down slightly.
Notably, during the first quarter, we returned approximately $84 million of capital to shareholders, including $75 million in share repurchases and $9 million in dividends paid.
To date, more than $158 million of stock has been repurchased, representing approximately 32% of the authorization under our $500 million repurchase program.
As of March 31, 2021, WWE held approximately $461 million in cash and short-term investments, which reflected the repayment of the remaining $100 million borrowed under WWE's revolving credit facility.
Accordingly, WWE estimates debt capacity under the revolving line of credit of $200 million.
Last quarter, WWE issued guidance for 2021 adjusted OIBDA of $270 million to $305 million.
The company is not changing full-year guidance at this time.
Turning to WWE's capital expenditures, as we mentioned last quarter, we anticipate increased spending on the company's new headquarters, as we restart this project in the second half of 2021.
For 2021, we've estimated total capital expenditures of $65 million to $85 million to begin construction, as well as to enhance WWE's technology infrastructure.

Summary:
Total WWE revenue was $263.5 million, a decline of 9% due to the cancellation of live events, including a large scale international event and the associated loss of merchandise sales, all due to COVID-19.
The company is not changing full-year guidance at this time.
Turning to WWE's capital expenditures, as we mentioned last quarter, we anticipate increased spending on the company's new headquarters, as we restart this project in the second half of 2021.