Netflix has made a big move into live programming, making a $5 billion deal with TKO Group Holdings’s WWE that will bring the weekly show Raw to the streamer starting in 2025.
Netflix will also become the international home for other WWE shows, including SmackDown and NXT in 2025, plus big events such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble.
Netflix is paying $5 billion over 10 years with an option for another 10 years. Netflix can also opt out after five years, according to documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
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Netflix has been wary about moving into the expensive arena of live sports and its executives have said they have no plans to stream live sports. Netflix said similar things about not putting advertising on the service. But times change and strategies change and soon Netflix will have both advertising and live sports entertainment.
“We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said. “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.”
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Raw has aired 1,600 episodes to date and appears weekly, creating a huge amount of live content 52 weeks a year. Raw was the highest-rated show on NBCUniversal’s USA Network, drawing 17.5 million unique viewers over the years.
“This deal is transformative,” Mark Shapiro, TKO president and chief operating officer, said. “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.”
