Tag: WWE On Peacock

NBC Sports president thanks WWE ‘for taking a chance on Peacock’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Even though WWE worked its way out of its premium live event deal with Peacock seven months early, there is no ill will on the behalf of NBC Sports.

NBC Sports president Rick Cordella quote tweeted a clip from Sunday’s WWE Clash in Paris where Michael Cole thanked Peacock for their time as a PLE partner.

Cordella took the opportunity to thank WWE, company head Nick Khan, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon “for taking a chance on Peacock 5 years ago, as we were just launching. But it’s not goodbye.”

He went on to write that “We’re excited to stay a partner of the WWE, with must-watch, Saturday Night Main Events for years to come.”

As part of the restructuring of their deal that sees ESPN take over as WWE’s domestic PLE partner in September 2025 vs. April 2026 when it was originally announced, Peacock will become the exclusive home of the quarterly SNME specials beginning in November as part of a new multi-year deal that also includes archived SmackDown episodes 30 days after they air on USA. SmackDown will continue to air on USA as it has since last fall.

WWE archive content will remain on Peacock through year’s end while NXT PLEs will remain on the platform domestically through the original March 2026 contract end date.

August 25, 2025 Observer Newsletter: Major changes to WWE’s ESPN & Peacock deals, AEW Forbidden Door preview

Posted on by F4W Staff

The new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived at the end of another busy week for both WWE and AEW.

Dave Meltzer looks at the latest flurry of activity with WWE’s media rights as their PLE deal with ESPN will now begin in September with their Peacock contract undergoing some major changes as a result.

Dave also previews this weekend’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door from London’s O2 Arena.

He hits on all that, plus the rest of the news from the wrestling week in WWE, AEW, NJPW, CMLL, AAA and more.

Click here to read the latest Wrestling Observer

Peacock’s WWE PLE bid revealed, separate WrestleMania deal was explored

Posted on by Josh Nason

In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement that WWE’s domestic premium live event package is heading to ESPN in April 2026, there is now more information on the efforts made for NBCU/Peacock to retain it.

On Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Live (seen below), our Bryan Alvarez reported that the Peacock bid was “in the neighborhood of $275 million per year.”

It’s unknown if that offer was for five years and the same terms (WWE video library and commitments for both five total documentaries and 250 hours of original programming) Peacock had before that TKO president Mark Shapiro noted ESPN’s package does not include.

As announced, the ESPN deal is for five years at $325 million per year, an increase of $50 million per year without the aforementioned added commitments that can be sold elsewhere which includes NXT PLEs.

Alvarez also noted that WWE was “shopping around WrestleMania as a separate deal” from the PLE package at one point, perhaps with an eye of selling those rights to one partner while the rest of the package went elsewhere.

WWE’s deal with Peacock ends in March 2026 with NBCU’s contract for SmackDown and Saturday Night’s Main Event still current.

TKO exec: Both WWE & NBCUniversal ‘keen’ on renewing PLE contract for Peacock

Posted on by Josh Nason

The word TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro used to describe the interest level between both WWE and NBCUniversal when it comes to renewing their Peacock deal was “keen.”

Appearing at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference Monday, Shapiro said that they will get into discussions in the next financial quarter with NBCUniversal regarding their existing deal that provides U.S. viewers with both WWE premium live event and archive access. The deal is up in March 2026.

The full audio from the call can be found below.

Shapiro said that NBCUniversal has been “a crazy good partner” that has made WWE a priority in their growth plan and that WWE has been great for Peacock in both acquistion and retention of subscribers.

However, he did say that while NBCU is “keen to renew” and that they are also keen to renew with them, “it might make sense to move elsewhere if the plan, not just the dollars, makes the best sense for the growth of our brand and the property.”

He was asked if it make sense for everything WWE to be available on Netflix and he said while it may make sense to split the UFC TV rights package as an option, they have “really enjoyed being with one home as long as they hit the price” with ESPN/Disney. He said with WWE, it’s a relatively small package of events (noting that it could be 12-14 PLEs in addition to six NXT PLEs) so it makes sense to keep it in one place but that depends on supply and demand.

He speculated that it would make sense for Netflix to own everything WWE, but he wasn’t pitching that and merely bringing it up as it’s out there as an idea. He said a common theme is programmers are looking for big events and “not regular season,” saying that WWE can “make noise when we want to make noise.”

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Here’s a few other notes from Shapiro’s talk:

  • He put over the Netflix deal and the early viewership success, specifically pointing to views as that is “most analogous to Nielsen,” Raw is up 13% year to date over USA and if you include the premiere, they are up 38%.
  • He said NXT is up 22% year to date on CW vs. USA.
  • Getting site fees for all 24 total WWE PLEs and UFC PPVs is still a focus over the next one-to-four years, saying that four are committed to Saudi Arabia which leaves them with 20 to sell. He noted they sell roughly about 1/3 of their inventory and are following the “F1 strategy on steroids” when it comes to doing that. After they sell those, they will move into selling Raws, SmackDowns and even NXTs. He noted those might not be at the highest level money wise, but pointed to examples like their upcoming WWE/UFC/PBR stretch in Kansas City as to what they can do.
  • If WWE fans were hoping for any type of relief from higher than usual WWE ticket prices, that doesn’t appear to something worth holding one’s breath over. Shapiro said they have “much more to go” on optimizing revenues for their schedule, nothing WWE has just got into dynamic pricing and that by reducing house shows, “scarcity drives demand which gives us more pricing power.”
  • There wasn’t much new on the UFC TV rights front other than that they hope to work something out with ESPN/Disney but their goal is to grow the sport and not necessarily go for the biggest money deal but one that will allow them to make the next deal after that even that much bigger.
  • Shapiro put over the “cultural impact” of John Cena turning heel and how it was featured on ESPN.
  • He added “you’ll be amazed at the surprises” that will come your way at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, comparing it to UFC’s event at the Sphere last year in terms of spectacle.

Click here to listen.

WWE Network sets shutdown date as Netflix launch nears

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the majority of international viewers, WWE Network will officially be closed for business on January 1st, 2025, as WWE kicks off their multi-year deal with Netflix.

In an email sent to affected Network subscribers Friday, WWE confirmed the date along with a phrase that has some fans concerned when it comes to archive content.

As previously reported, weekly episodes of Raw, SmackDown & NXT will be available for international Netflix subscribers as well as premium live events. When it comes to the archives, the notice stated “Many of WWE’s top moments, along with historic PLEs and select programming, will be available on Netflix beginning January 1.”

With WWE owning the complete libraries of WCW and ECW in addition to Mid-South Wrestling, AWA, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, WCCW, and plenty of other defunct organizations, the exact availability of that content, in addition to older WWE content, is unknown.

When any remaining international WWE Network deals expire, those regions will also need to view WWE content on Netflix.

For the U.S. audience, Netflix will offer Raw and anticipated shoulder programming starting in January with any PLEs and archive content remaining on Peacock as their contract lasts until 2026.

WWE Network was first launched in February 2014.

Here’s the notice that was sent out:

“On January 1, 2025, WWE Network will no longer be available in your area. After January 1, Netflix will be the new exclusive home of WWE.

Netflix will bring WWE’s electrifying content all to one place, including weekly shows, Monday Night RAW, SmackDown and NXT, PLUS Premium Live Events (PLEs) such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam.

Many of WWE’s top moments, along with historic PLEs and select programming, will be available on Netflix beginning January 1.

The premiere live episode of Monday Night RAW on Netflix airing on January 6 will feature some of the biggest names in WWE such as John Cena, Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Bianca Belair, in addition to many other Superstars and guests including Travis Scott.

If you are already a Netflix subscriber, you’re all set. If you are not a Netflix subscriber, you will need to subscribe so you don’t miss a moment. We can’t wait for you to experience WWE on Netflix this January.

Sincerely,
WWE Network Support“

TKO executive: ‘Insatiable demand’ exists for ‘underpriced’ domestic WWE PLE rights

Posted on by Josh Nason

Even though they have closed the book on WWE Raw’s next TV home, TKO leadership is already gearing up for their next big payday: the domestic rights package for WWE’s monthly premium live events.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference, TKO COO Mark Shapiro said that the current five-year deal with NBCUniversal to air the PLEs on Peacock is “underpriced.”

He didn’t blame either WWE or NBCU, saying that “the market catches up” but that the monthly events are “massively performing” for NBCU and higher than the expectations NBCU leadership had when they signed the deal.

Shapiro stated there is “insatiable demand” for the rights when they come up in 2026 and that they will look to renew with NBCU who has been a great partner who knows how to market WWE. 

However, it will be a “hotly-contested property.”

In April 2023, WWE CEO Nick Khan said the timing of the rights coming up was “interesting” to them.

In January 2021, WWE announced that WWE Network would be heading to the Peacock streaming service in the U.S., later revealed as a five-year deal in the ballpark of $1 billion total.

When asked about whether Netflix would be interested in bringing on the domestic rights given they will have the international rights starting in January 2025, Shapiro said that with Netflix, Apple and other providers, the conversations always started with the question of when the PLE deal was up.

He said they want to walk before they run with Netflix, get out of the gate strong with Raw, and see how things go before talking about the domestic PLE rights if NBCUniversal doesn’t renew.

That wasn’t the only newsworthy comment Shapiro made at the conference, answering questions about Vince McMahon’s recent stock sale in addition to the interesting fact that Netflix was originally interested in NXT.