WWE RAW to move to Netflix

I get that it is a press release on a corporate site, but Jesus WWE, could you maybe make the font a little bigger or even bolder? 2024 is a big year for wrestling as a whole, not just for WWE’s programming. Celebrating 40 years of WrestleMania, there are a number of contracts up or being finalized, and generally, the business is on an upward swing. One result of the reanimated corpse of Gomez Addams returning last year was WWE’s programming deals and now the finalized merger to create TKO Group Holdings. Also, SmackDown is heading back to USA Network in October, and The CW will carry NXT.

Revealed yesterday in a sway of announcements, including the USWA’s Flex Kavana joining the TKO Board of Directors, a press release from Stamford came out revealing the plans for RAW. Starting in January 2025, in the US, Canada, UK, and Latin America, WWE’s flagship show will be leaving traditional linear broadcasting for the world of streaming through Netflix. Further markets are yet to be announced for the deal. This comes after weeks/months of rumors of Monday Night RAW leaving the start of everyone’s week for another night.

Something quickly ignored in a lot of news outlets’ coverage of this initially is that “Netflix will also become the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the U.S. as available, inclusive of Raw and WWE’s other weekly shows – SmackDown and NXT – as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam[,] and Royal Rumble.” Furthermore, WWE’s original programming, documentaries, and other projects in the future are set to hit Netflix internationally in 2025 as well.

Effectively doing away with the international remnants of the WWE Network, as seen still in Europe and elsewhere, I believe. What this means for WWE’s current deal with Peacock is interesting, especially as there is a short-term deal for pre-orders of WWE 2K24 where new sign-ups to Peacock get a free month. Of course, Peacock is the home of WWE’s non-linear and “PLE” programming in the US for the time being. There is no word on plans for that to change before the deal is up in 2026.

TKO President and COO, Mark Shapiro said, “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.” It is about now I should point out that many outlets cite a $5-billion deal over a decade between TKO and Netflix.

TKO stocks before the announcement were set at $77.41 a share, with the announcement rocketing that price up to $95.68. A speculated $ 2 billion was generated in market value as a result of that announcement, peaking at a 20% increase. At the time of writing, the shares have dropped to the high $80 mark with speculation suggesting it will continue around there for the next while.

Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s CCO, said: “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, blending great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year[,] and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE.“

WWE President, Nick Khan went on to state: “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.”

As much as the press release and other direct sources state the vague details of the deal, there are plenty of questions hanging over it at the time of writing. WWE’s current broadcasting deals end/change in October, this includes the current deal with USA to broadcast all of RAW. There are a couple of months there where RAW doesn’t seem to have a home with January 2025 being a further three months away. As noted during most broadcasts, RAW is noted as one of the longest-running weekly shows, rain, wind, and snow be damned.

Not only this but the details on what changes will be made to RAW in this shift haven’t been made public either. Currently, due to the massive amount that ad revenue would pull in, WWE RAW runs a three-hour program every week, could that return to two hours? Let it be, please! Otherwise, could this result in a shift for Netflix to run mid-roll ads on some tiers similar to linear TV broadcasting? Again, there is no answer to this from WWE’s or Netflix’s side at the time of writing, and it may be months before we find out.

For the business, for WWE, and fans of wrestling (at least internationally), this is a great-value deal. You’re getting RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and the rest of WWE’s programming for one price alongside Netflix’s shows, while WWE has streamlined all of the rights into one licensing deal that is $ 500 million a year. The first thing that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel kind of dodged when speaking with CNBC is the number and the value of the deal. It is a big number, $ 5 billion over a decade, $ 500 million a year, but that isn’t just for RAW.

In Canada, RAW was/is on Sportsnet 360, but again Canada is part of the “outside of the U.S.” caveat. So not only is Sportsnet 360 no longer getting RAW but Canadian Netflix users get SmackDown, NXT, the “PLEs,” and the original programming. The same for the UK and TNT Sports, which currently airs RAW and SmackDown as NXT shifts back to the network. Those rights deals are gone. Once you account for all of this in the deal, RAW is part of the package deal and not really a show being sold for $ 500 million a year or $ 5 billion over ten years.

While this sounds like a bum deal for WWE, you also have to account for the reality that not only are RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and beyond on one streaming platform, but in the third quarter of 2023, Netflix reported 247.2-million subscriptions worldwide. Now subtract a large U.S. portion of the 77 million for the U.S. and Canada, you’ve got a real number of households that will have access to all of WWE’s programming every week. It is the ease of access, an inoffensive easy watching for a lot of people.

This is not only a monumental change for the wrestling world, but a very interesting one that could increase the business overall. Including outside of WWE. Rumor was that WWE would make a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring RAW to TNT/TBS, the home of AEW since 2019, which would have probably resulted in some small deal with Max/HBO Max. Now Warner can maybe focus on signing up AEW for its upcoming TV rights deal. Meanwhile, can we all stop complaining/comparing viewing figures between promotions and enjoy wrestling? Forgot, I’m asking too much of wrestling fans.