Netflix Just Got a Little Raw

WWE is headed to the streaming service in 2025, so soon you can Netflix and wrestle
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 23, 2024 12:28 PM CST
Well, Now You Can Netflix and Wrestle
Wrestler Carmella leaps at Bianca Belair during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, March 6, 2023, in Boston. WWE's weekly television show "Raw" will move to Netflix next year as part of a major streaming deal.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

WWE's weekly show Raw will move to Netflix next year as part of a major streaming deal worth more than $5 billion. TKO Group Holdings Inc., which houses WWE and UFC, said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that the agreement is for 10 years, with Netflix having an option to extend the deal for an additional 10 years. There's also an opt out available to Netflix after the initial five years, reports the AP. Raw, which debuted in 1993, has produced 1,600 episodes to date and features wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, and Rhea Ripley. The three-hour program currently airs on USA Network and its media rights were considered a hot commodity over the past several months.

WWE said Tuesday that Raw will air on Netflix starting in January 2025 for viewers in the US, Canada, the UK, Latin America, and other territories. Additional countries and regions will follow. Calling the deal "transformative," TKO president Mark Shapiro said, "it marries the can't-miss WWE product with Netflix's extraordinary global reach ... and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix." WWE also said that its documentaries, original series, and forthcoming projects will be available on Netflix internationally starting in 2025.

The move of Raw to Netflix follows the announcement in September by World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. that Friday Night Smackdown, would be moving from Fox to USA Network in 2024 under a new five-year domestic media rights partnership with NBCUniversal. As part of the agreement, WWE will also produce four prime-time specials per year that will air on NBC, starting in the 2024/2025 season. This will be the first time that WWE will air on the network in prime time. WWE also announced Tuesday that it reached a deal with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that will give the star the rights to his nickname. Johnson will also join the board of TKO Group.

(More WWE stories.)

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