In news that could have massive implications not just for the professional wrestling business but for the world of streaming as well, WWE announced their flagship TV show, Monday Night Raw, will be moving from cable, where it has been broadcast since the show’s inception in the early 1990s, to streaming on Netflix.
The deal is reportedly worth $5 billion — $500 million per year deal for 10 years. (Netflix will have an option to opt out of the deal after the first five years.)
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Here was Netflix’s CCO Bela Bajaria on the news:
We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix. 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.
Monday Night Raw currently airs on USA Network on cable. The channel’s deal to air the show ends in October 2024 — while Netflix’s new deal with WWE begins in January 2025. It’s not yet clear where Raw will air in between the two deals. (USA Network isn’t losing wrestling entirely; they have already signed a deal to air WWE’s other primary television series, Friday Night Smackdown, starting when that show’s current deal with Fox expires.)
This is a big deal for wrestling fans, but this is huge news even if you have no idea who Finn Balor or Dominik Mysterio are, because it shows Netflix is getting into live broadcasting and live sports in a major way. (Raw traditionally airs live on Monday nights from 8 to 11PM, although on a streaming service that could presumably change — and replays would seemingly be a lot quicker and easier.) The service has dabbled in some live content; a Chris Rock comedy special, a golf tournament featuring Netflix reality stars. But this is magnitudes upon magnitudes of a bigger deal, and for a company that has typically been very content to focus squarely on on demand content.
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