Netflix has made its biggest live programming play yet with a multi-billion dollar deal for WWE Raw.
Netflix and the WWE have reached a ten-year media rights deal said to be worth more than $5 billion that will move the weekly “WWE Raw” series to the streamer effective next year, it was announced Tuesday. “WWE Raw” has been a basic cable staple since its 1993 debut, airing on Comcast-owned USA Network for nearly all of that time.
While the WWE does not qualify as traditional live sports, the deal nonetheless indicates that Netflix may finally be a real player for sports rights down the line. Netflix has for years stayed out of the live sports race, despite hopes and expectations to the contrary. The WWE deal is another indication that times may have changed for the streamer, which last year added an ad-supported plan after years of opposing such a move.
Last year, Sports Business Journal reported that Netflix was interested in acquiring rights to the new NBA In-Season Tournament, though that was later contradicted by a report in Bloomberg. Netflix was also rumored to be a potential contender for Formula 1 rights when those were last up for bid. While ESPN renewed with F1 at the time, those rights expire again next year.
The “Raw” deal comes amidst a boom period for live events on streaming. NBC’s Peacock exclusively streamed an NFL playoff game earlier this month and averaged more than 20 million viewers — below the other games that weekend on linear television, but nonetheless a record for a streaming event. The NFL, which last season began streaming Thursday Night Football exclusively on Amazon, looks to have paved the way for lesser properties to move some of their most valuable inventory to streamers.
The move is not trivial as “WWE Raw” regularly averages more than one million viewers in a cable landscape where that is not often the case.
For USA, the loss of “Raw” is not the end of its association with the WWE. The network acquired rights last year to the Friday night “WWE Smackdown” that has been airing on FOX.
