Netflix buys rights to WWE RAW in landmark deal

WWE’s Monday Night Raw will no longer air on the USA Network starting in January 2025. Netflix will now be the new home to WWE’s most watched wrestling show. The streaming giant is acquiring the rights to WWE Raw in a $5 billion deal to be paid out over 10 years.

Netflix will have the option to exit the deal after five years and to extend it for another decade. Under the deal, Netflix will also stream WWE specials such as Smackdown and NXT, in addition to hosting pay-per-view live events, such as Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble. Pay-per-view content will be available to Netflix subscribers at no extra charge.

This deal is huge news for the streaming industry. This move allows companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Paramount Global to stream live sports content. The number of viewers who stream sports events at least once a month is projected to rise to more than 90 million by 2025, up roughly 58% from 57 million in 2021, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Also part of the agreement is a stipulation that grants wrestling star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson the legal rights to his stage name. He has also been named a TKO Group board member.   WWEs President Nick Khan spoke about the partnership today on The Pat McAfee Show.

“We think we’re in business with two great partners. What we did once the Smackdown deal closed, which will shift Smackdown over from Fox to USA starting this October 1st, we focused or hyper focused on Raw. It was a robust marketplace. We had a number of meetings. There was a lot of interest. There were a number of offers. And at the end of the day, to be the first movers with Netflix live on a consistent basis. So yes, I saw the Chris Rock special too, and the reality show after show, and they’re doing the Golf Pro Am, which was all great programming. But 52 weeks a year, we’re turnkey as you’ve lived it with us. The fact that they could come to us and say, yeah, we strike a deal, and you guys do all the rest, is something that they like, and certainly something that we thought was in our direct wheelhouse. It came together over the matter of a couple of months. And we think it’s a great deal.”