WWE Signs $5 Billion Deal To Air RAW On Netflix, Hinting At The UFC’s Next Steps

January 24, 2024
1 year
WWE Signs $5 Billion Deal To Air RAW On Netflix

WWE has signed a ten-year deal with Netflix, allowing them to broadcast RAW exclusively starting January 2025.

According to reports, the deal is worth $500 million yearly for a decade, taking the whole deal to $5 billion. The figures are astronomical, considering how much the WWE’s current deal is worth. Their current deal for their U.S. rights for RAW with NBC Universal is worth $250-$260 million per year. This is over five years. The agreement is set to expire in October 2024. This leaves question marks over where the remaining shows will be aired between then and the start of the new deal in January 2025. 

WWE-Netflix Deal

The new deal also means Netflix will have exclusive rights to the show in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Latin America and more territories once the deal is in place. Netflix will also become the network for all of WWE’s shows broadcast outside of the U.S. This includes SmackDown, NXT, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble. 

That has increased the strength of TKO Group Holdings Inc. following their merger between the WWE and UFC to form the company last September. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange, and the current news will likely boost its brand. 

WWE Signs $5 Billion Deal To Air RAW On Netflix
Credit: WWE

Reaction

“We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix. By combining our reach, recommendations and fandom with WWE, we’ll be able to deliver more joy and value for their audiences and our members. Raw is the best of sports entertainment. [It] blend[s] great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE,” Bela Bajaria (Netflix Chief Content Officer)

“In its relatively short history, Netflix has engineered a phenomenal track record for storytelling. We believe Netflix, as one of the world’s leading entertainment brands, is the ideal long-term home for Raw’s live, loyal, and ever-growing fan base,” Nick Khan (WWE president)

“This deal is transformative. It marries the can’t-miss WWE product with Netflix’s extraordinary global reach. And locks in significant and predictable economics for many years. Our partnership fundamentally alters and strengthens the media landscape, dramatically expands the reach of WWE, and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix,” Mark Shapiro (President and COO of TKO)

UFC’s Future

The news is also significant in light of the UFC’s current deal with ESPN. They have a seven-year contract worth $1.5 billion that was signed in 2018. The network is exclusive for UFC fights, but their deal is set to end this year. Given White’s following comments, WWE and Neftlix’s deal has increased the chances of the UFC doing something similar. 

“You can look at some of the things Amazon’s done and think whatever [about them], but it’s all about when rights become available. That’s when you’re going to see people making big moves. Who’s going to be first to be the big, dominant player out there [in streaming sports]? 

“Man, we were doing fights that should have done 350,000 [pay-per-view sales], and they wound up doing a million. There was nothing else on. As technology continues to get better, the UFC continues to get bigger. We can reach more people,” White said  

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