WWE Shockingly Moving Raw to Netflix in 2025, With $5 Billion Deal
After a great night of wrestling on Monday Night Raw, today I arose to the news that the WWE will be moving their flagship show “Raw” to Netflix in 2025.
Netflix and WWE announced the Raw deal in a press release Tuesday, and it’s a big surprise. But for the amount of money behind it, who can blame them.
Variety is reporting that the arrangement is a 10-year deal worth $5 billion, a monumental move that takes WWE Raw off of Live TV for the first time ever since it’s inception in 1993.
Vareity said the current deal with NBCUniversal is worth approximately $250 million to $260 million.
The move is set to happen in January of 2025, according to Netflix. Netflix will also get the rights to ALL of the WWE shows and specials outside of the United States.
“This deal is transformative,” Mark Shapiro, TKO – WWE’s new parent company – President and COO said in the release. “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.”
“Raw” is currently showing on USA Network, and is the top-rated show on the network with 17.5 million unique viewers a year, according to the release. It’s unclear how Netflix plans to showcase the live show, but several streaming platforms have taken on live sports in recent years, including Amazon’s landmark deal with the NFL.
“In its relatively short history, Netflix has engineered a phenomenal track record for storytelling,” said Nick Khan, WWE President. “We believe Netflix, as one of the world’s leading entertainment brands, is the ideal long-term home for Raw’s live, loyal, and ever-growing fan base.”
We’ll wait to see how it goes before we pass too much judgment, but having Raw on Netflix is going to be a major shift.
