After 31 years on television, World Wrestling Entertainment Raw’s run as TV champion is coming to an end, but only so its reign on streaming can begin. WWE has signed a new deal with Netflix that will make the streaming service the exclusive home of WWE’s flagship series, Raw, in the United States. The deal was announced on Tuesday and will also move many of WWE’s other series over to Netflix, particularly outside the United States.
“This deal is transformative,” said Mark Shapiro, TKO President and COO, in a statement in WWE’s announcement. “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.”
The deal is reported to be for about $5 billion over 10 years, nearly double what WWE’s previous deal with NBC Universal and Peacock was worth nearly five years ago. This marks a massive investment from Netflix in the world of sports, something Netflix has been trying to break into recently, and also carves out a strong niche of extremely passionate fans outside the U.S.’s major sports leagues. The deal does not mention Netflix getting rights to WWE’s other weekly shows, like NXT and Smackdown in the United States, so those shows are likely to find other homes.
Netflix will start broadcasting WWE Raw events live every week starting in January 2025.
