STAYING PUT
WWE Monday Night RAW in major broadcast change as $25m deal is signed for TV rights before Netflix move
The USA Network will continue to broadcast Raw through the end of the year
WWE owners TKO Group Holdings have announced a new short-term rights deal for Monday Night Raw.
With NBCUniversal's five-year deal set to expire in September, question marks surrounded the immediate future of Raw.
5
5
5
This uncertainty emanated from the fact that Netflix's deal to broadcast Raw is not slated to begin until January 2025.
However, along with its first-quarter earnings, TKO announced on Wednesday that it had reached a deal worth $25 million with NBCU to continue broadcasting Raw through the end of the year, as per Sportico.
As such, it will remain available to fans on USA Network through December.
Come January, Raw will move to Netflix in a deal reportedly worth $5 billion.
Read More on the WWE
The deal includes coverage in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, among others.
TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro described the deal as "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."
Most read in Sport
Meanwhile, WWE president Nick Khan credited Netflix for engineering "a phenomenal track record for storytelling" during "its relatively short history."
"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," he added.
WWE Superstars dish the dirt on their locker room mates in fun Sun Sport feature ft Damian Priest, Piper Niven, Finn Balor and Jey Uso
There have been over 1,600 episodes of Raw since it first hit screens in 1993.
And while Raw may be departing NBCU, their relationship with the WWE won't end there.
It was announced in September that Friday Night SmackDown would be leaving Fox for the USA Network starting October 2024.
The five-year deal is reportedly worth $1.4 billion in total, as per CNBC.
5
The announcement also revealed that NBC would be broadcasting four specials produced by the WWE.
"NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades," said Khan in a statement.
"We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC."
Read More on The US Sun
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
NBCU's streaming service Peacock also broadcasts the WWE Network.
That deal began in 2021 and is scheduled to run through March 2026, as per IndieWire.
5