Netflix has announced a historic long-term partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), marking — what is likely to be — a transformative shift in the entertainment landscape.
As part of the deal, WWE Raw will exclusively stream on Netflix starting January 2025. This marks a departure from traditional linear television, with Netflix securing the rights to Raw for the next decade in a deal valued at over $5 billion USD.
Netflix reported a staggering addition of 13.1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, surpassing Wall Street estimates and bringing its total subscriber count to a remarkable 260 million.
The streaming giant’s stock rose by 8.3% in after-hours trading, capping off a year in which it gained an impressive 65%. This growth was fueled by the success of marquee shows like The Crown and David Fincher’s film, The Killer.
For WWE, the deal represents a seismic shift from traditional television to a global streaming giant, ensuring wider audience reach and a predictable revenue stream for the next decade. Netflix, on the other hand, gains access to WWE’s massive fanbase, offering a diverse range of sports entertainment content.
A WWE Raw on Netflix
Raw will air on Netflix in the US, Canada, Latin America and other international markets beginning in January 2025, after the expiration of the WWE’s domestic deal with Comcast. The company will also become the exclusive home outside the US for all WWE shows and specials, including Smackdown and NXT, as well as pay-per-view live events like Wrestlemania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. The pay-per-view events will be included at no additional cost for Netflix customers.
After attracting more than 200 million customers by offering films and TV shows on-demand, Netflix has now committed to offering three hours of live wrestling a week starting next year.
The WWE is the latest major live event to shift from cable TV to streaming. Ultimate Fighting Championship, which like WWE is owned by TKO Group Holdings, offers many of its matches on ESPN+, while the National Football League sold Amazon.com the rights to Thursday Night Football.
What they said
Mark Shapiro, President and COO of WWE parent company TKO, expressed the significance of the deal, stating, “This deal is transformative. Our partnership fundamentally alters and strengthens the media landscape, dramatically expands the reach of WWE, and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix.”
Bela Bajaria, Netflix CCO, echoed the sentiment, saying, “We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix. 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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