Details about past WWE TV rights contracts and specific non-compete clauses were revealed Wednesday as more documents emerge from the ongoing shareholders lawsuit.
The annual five-year contract value for Raw was confirmed at a $265 million average with $15 million escalators per year for a total of $1.325 billion.
The annual deal for SmackDown to Fox was for an $205 annual average value with $12.5 million yearly escalators for a total of $1.025 billion.
Non-competes
Under their deal with NBCU, it was agreed no other wrestling content would air on any NBCU cable network or any of those network’s “vertical websites.” That clause extended to any “any person or entity that primarily produces or distributes programming consisting mainly of wrestling matches between professional wrestlers, as that term is commonly understood in the television industry.” There was one exception, NBC Universo, but for wrestling produced outside the U.S.
There was a similar arrangement between WWE and Fox, stating no Fox-owned network “will exhibit, include advertising for, or otherwise promote, any professional wrestling content, products or services other than WWE.”
In both cases, MMA and other combat sports weren’t included in those clauses.
Other Notes
WWE retained final creative control, but NBCU had “consultation rights on production and creative elements” while WWE had to remain within standards and practices.
The Fox clause was similar with creative control. However, “WWE was required to discuss that content with Fox before including that content in an episode. No denigrating the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, or other major Fox partners, apparently.”
On the promotional front, Fox was obligated to promote WWE SmackDown “in a manner consistent with how it supports its major sports league partners” like MLB, NFL, and NASCAR. It was specifically noted that WWE would be promoted in certain Thursday and Sunday NFL games and other Fox Sports broadcasts. There was even a total contract value of $125 million in promotion.
The promotion with NBCU had less guarantees with just one specific annual commitment with NBCU holding rights as how they promoted WWE Raw.
Fox was obligated to product two weekly 30-minute promotional shows, one for late-Saturday nights on the broadcast network and the other for FS1. The former never happened while the latter was WWE Backstage which disappeared after seven months.
Fox also had the option to do pre-shows on either broadcst or FS1 for the big four PLEs which never happened.
Both entities had limited re-air rights with certain provisions at to when in addition to specific language about YouTube content.
The lawsuit claims that Vince McMahon’s drive to merge WWE with UFC was predetermined while other better offers were on the table because he wanted a role within it. He stepped down from his TKO position when the Janel Grant lawsuit first came to light in January 2024, but remains the company’s largest single person stockholder.
With the big news coming Tuesday morning that WWE is taking its Raw talents to Netflix beginning in 2025, I welcomed New York Post sports media reporter Ryan Glasspiegel on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out to talk all about the big news.
In our 20+ minute discussion, we talked about the deal that will see Raw head to Netflix worldwide in addition to international rights for WWE PLEs, SmackDown and NXT, and other WWE programming associated with WWE Network.
We talk about some of the big questions that go along with the news like what night of the week WWE content will fall on, and if Netflix is the front-runner for the domestic WWE Network/PLE rights currently held by NBCUniversal.
There’s also the spillover effect for AEW whose rights are up at the end of this year. Does this mean WBD is the odds-on favorite by default and will Tony Khan take his properties out for bid?
We cover all that, plus Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joining the TKO Board of Directors, on this relatively breaking news edition of JNPO.
For the first time since its inception, WWE Raw will be leaving traditional cable and moving to Netflix as part of a new decade-long TV rights deal that also has international components.
WWE announced the news Tuesday morning, stating the new era will kick off in January 2025.
It was not confirmed which day the show will air. During an appearance with Pat McAfee, WWE CEO Nick Khan laid out compelling competition reasons for moving while also pointing out their track record of success on Mondays against the NFL and that they have nearly 11 months to figure everything out
While Variety initially reported the deal was worth $400 million annually and “believed to run more than five years,” both CNBC’s Alex Sherman and the Sports Business Journal reported the deal is for 10 years and more than $5 billion in total value.
Raw will be seen not just in the United States, but also Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America and other countries and regions over time according to the release.
Also part of the deal, Netflix will become the primary home outside the United States for WWE shows like Raw, SmackDown and NXT in addition to premium live events, documentaries, and original series traditionally seen on WWE Network. That element also begins in 2025.
Regarding the years on the deal, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics noted an interesting fact from the TKO SEC filings that could see the deal be as short as five years or as long as 20 years depending on what Netflix wants:
Netflix has the option to cancel the 10-year deal with WWE after just 5 years, and has the option to extend the deal for an additional 10 years, according to a filing from TKO.
Meaning the WWE-Netflix term could end up being 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years — whichever Netflix… pic.twitter.com/JXNAyIHEB7
Adding some additional intrigue is that WWE’s current deal with NBCU expires in October 2024, leaving a question of where Raw will air between that time and when the Netflix deal begins. The Variety report stated that where Raw will air during that time is still being determined.
“Netflix announced earlier this month it had 23 million (monthly active users) for its advertising tier, which the company launched in November 2022. Matches will be scripted around commercial breaks to satisfy ad-free customers, who will see continued action from live matches that aren’t important to the outcome, such as a wrestler in a sustained headlock, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
Monthly active users (MAUs) are not considered the same as subscribers. As of now, Netflix doesn’t break out the totals per group.
This completes the set of domestic TV rights for WWE that were up this year. SmackDown will move to NBCUniversal and NXT will move to The CW, both in October 2024.
The domestic rights for the WWE Network and PLEs, currently with NBCU, is up in March 2026 along with the UFC’s domestic TV rights currently with ESPN up in 2025, meaning another financial windfall is coming in the years ahead for TKO.
This is the first true foray for Netflix (247 million subscribers) into weekly live sports/sports entertainment after they have experimented in the past with a Chris Rock comedy special and a live finale of their “Love is Blind” — the latter of which saw major technical issues that were blamed on a technical glitch.
TKO COO Mark Shapiro told Sports Business Journal that there are no concerns about Netflix being able to handle a weekly live show, saying “the timeframe of the deal gives Netflix and WWE a year to prepare for the move, and added he anticipates massive support from Netflix to make the sure program is a success.”
Shapiro also said the length of the deal was a key point in making the deal. In a quote that that is assumed to be speaking from the Netflix point of view, he said, “An early hangup on this deal was that we’re not renters. We love to own. So if we can’t own, then we want a long enough commitment, that if we pour our heart and soul into this partnership, you’re not gonna leave us three years later.”
A new report out Wednesday has Warner Bros. Discovery & Paramount discussing a corporate merger between the two entertainment entities.
Axios reported that WBD CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish met Tuesday to discuss the matter over several hours that included how the two could compliment each other.
As pointed out in the article, WBD’s market cap is currently $29 billion while Paramount sits at just over $10 billion. WBD has reportedly hired bankers to evaluate a merger.
WBD has a multitude of networks and their Max streaming service while Paramount owns their own movie studio, CBS, cable networks, and their own streaming service. They also are one of several NFL rights holders while they also hold NCAA men’s basketball tournament partnership rights with WBD.
Both companies are also carrying major debt loads and are losing in the “streaming wars” to Netflix, hence why consolidation is being considered.
The news is pertinent to wrestling fans for several reasons.
WBD executive Bruce Campbell met recently with TKO’s Mark Shapiro and WWE’s Nick Khan and Paul Levesque in what was believed to be a conversation about Raw’s domestic TV rights that are up next year. The meeting came after previous attempts at talks had reportedly not gone anywhere.
It also comes as WBD’s current TV wrestling partner AEW is approaching the final year of their multi-year contract for which the future is unknown. AEW head Tony Khan said last week that he met with WBD officials on December 12th, but he didn’t delve into what the focus of the conversation was.
Regarding WWE talking with WBD, Khan said at the post-Ring of Honor Final Battle press conference that “it’s part of the TV business” and that he feels AEW has performed “incredibly well” for WBD which has led to a strong relationship. He has previously said he believes in loyalty and would like to remain on WBD’s networks.
WBD is also one of several groups discussing NBA TV rights which they are expected to share with multiple other broadcast entities. How a merger could affect those commitments of cash to the NBA, WWE or AEW is unknown.
On the Paramount side, their CBS Media Ventures syndication arm does distribute Women’s of Wrestling in a multi-year deal that began in October 2021.
I am back with another Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, talking about all the big stories from the past week.
Earlier this week, our Dave Meltzer reported that the return of CM Punk to WWE has re-sparked interest within WBD for the Raw TV rights. I talk about what this all means and how it could potentially impact AEW if it happens.
I go into Friday’s Ring of Honor Final Battle which saw some tremendous action including the Jay Briscoe tribute match featuring FTR & Mark Briscoe vs. the Blackpool Combat Club, and the Athena vs. Bille Starkz main event for the ROH Women’s title.
Plus, I talk the return of AJ Styles and his new physique, Liv Morgan’s arrest over the weekend, and injuries to both Kenny Omega and Charlotte Flair.
The WWE Raw rights renewals and the AEW rights renewals will end up being two of the most important pro wrestling news stories of the next year.
From the start, analysts have believed NBCU (USA), Disney (FX), Amazon Prime, and WBD were all potential suitors for the show that starts its 32nd year in a few weeks. WBD, due to its affiliation with AEW, was always considered a longshot and the word going around was that WBD was no longer in the game as of October.
The CM Punk signing looks to have opened doors up since Endeavor’s Mark Shapiro along with Nick Khan and Paul Levesque had a meeting with WBD on Monday morning.
One report we had was that Punk was a major part of the pitch, with the idea he’d be a regular on the Raw brand. The report we had included pushing his merchandise sales and social media views along with ratings of recent shows.
Obviously the situation is back wide open and this greatly affects AEW, which has also been in talks with WBD on a number of deals besides just television rights renewals, including potential streaming. WBD also gets a cut of AEW’s streaming PPV buys through Bleacher Report.
While never acknowledged, there is also the belief that WBD owns points in AEW. Tony Khan never denied it when asked, only saying he has 100 percent of the voting and decision making power.
The new WWE ownership is not Vince McMahon, so the attempt to get brand exclusivity is likely not there. UFC’s contract with ESPN was negotiated by Endeavor. PFL, a rival promotion, was also able to get on ESPN and ESPN+, and PFL just renewed that deal. It is believed the CW deal for NXT also didn’t call for exclusivity in the wrestling genre. Whether WBD would want two wrestling franchises is a different matter.
Tony Khan has always talked of loyalty to WBD, even saying that in negotiations for this new deal he would stay with WBD on his next deal even if another entity offered slightly more money. He also made it clear after the purchase of ROH that he would only shop it to WBD stations, who didn’t bite on it. It was reported by Nick Hausman and confirmed by Tony Khan that CW had expressed interest in ROH some time back. Khan had said in the past that he legally could sell ROH television rights outside the WBD family, but out of loyalty would not do so at the time.
It’s difficult to predict outcomes in these negotiations. SmackDown going to USA Network this coming October was very predictable and the clear favorite. NXT going to CW seemed to come out of the blue. Levesque missed the Raw two weeks earlier for a meeting with another potential suitor for the show, This would indicate those talks were very serious by that point.
More than a decade ago with UFC, everyone was sure it was going from Spike to the NBC family literally until it came out the deal was with Fox. It was just recently that Dana White explained how that happened and that they were ready to sign with NBC, but the nature of Vince McMahon’s WWE deal with USA, the station that would have aired the bulk of the programming, was such that MMA was considered close enough to pro wrestling that he had to give approval. He did not, and the NBC deal was dead.
So as far as where Raw ends up, until the announcement is made, nothing is a lock. There are so many other potential repercussions in regard to late 2024, including the channels WWE programming will be on and the days of the week the shows will be on. SmackDown on Friday would seem to make no sense considering how much USA paid for the show, given the viewers watching television on Friday are considerably lower than Sunday through Thursday. For AEW, it would not be in its best interest to be on the same night as Raw or SmackDown.
Raw moving from Monday is also intriguing talk. Its history on Monday is so long that it’s such a long standing tradition to fans that moving it is a risk. Yet it takes a hit every year for several months due to the NFL.
Obviously WBD talks regarding Raw, because of those repercussions is the most intriguing. At first it appeared to be so unlikely that it even being consistently mentioned by analysts was scoffed at.
WBD this year has both added a new show, leading to a rights increase and signed AEW to an exclusive contract. In recent weeks it has consistently okayed the live shows going long so main events don’t have to be rushed. While not doing Raw numbers, Dynamite usually ranks between No. 2 and No. 6 for the week in cable rankings in the entertainment category — a category that Raw is usually first place in.
The addition of CM Punk increases Raw’s ratings potential. Of course the early shows got a big boost and most likely the impact will be lessened in time. Some will point to Monday’s lower number and say it’s already back to normal, but the Punk segment with Seth Rollins did 1,881,000 viewers and an 0.62 in 18-49, far above the rest of the show. While Raw, like Dynamite, almost always loses viewers as the show goes on, the drop of 626,000 viewers and 0.22 from the Punk quarter until the last quarter was so far beyond usual levels that it was staggering. The show clearly would have done far worse against the competition without the storyline of him announcing his destination. Long-term, we really have to wait until after football season ends to ascertain how the overall momentum of the ratings.
WWE is looking for a huge increase in Raw rights on the new deal, the hoped for figure of 50 percent or more would be $398 million and even a 40 percent increase would be $371 million.
There is value in having the No. 1 franchise in the genre, but from a cost per 18-49 viewer level AEW Dynamite is a bargain in comparison.
If AEW does 55 percent of the Raw 18-49 ratings, and that’s likely within a few percentage points of where it currently is on a year-around basis, Dynamite was believed to have been roughly $50 million in rights fees for 2023, and the option year would bump it up. Raw is three hours vs. two, so as its price per hour would be in the $124 million to $133 million range, and the Dynamite price for this coming year is maybe in the $30 million range per hour. Even with an increase to, say $90 million ($45 million per hour) on the next deal, it would mean delivering 55 percent of the 18-49 viewers at 25 to 36 percent of the cost.
Another key figure is that based on a recent Werstlenomics study of household income of the viewers of the different wrestling shows from January through November, that the median income of a Dynamite viewing household is the highest of any wrestling show in the United States. The figure of $61,500 median household viewership is 13.3 percent higher than that of a Raw household, meaning the theoretical value of its viewers should be significantly higher.
Ultimately, a lot of balls are in play right now and with everything from the days the shows air to the value of having the top rated non-sports show in one’s portfolio. But this also comes at a cost that is high enough that Fox, a network station, gave up SmackDown at a lower price, because they felt they lost too much money on the deal. And this is with SmackDown being the highest rated wrestling show and winning most Friday nights.
WWE has officially announced that NXT will be moving to The CW Network starting in October 2024. It’s a five-year deal.
Ari Emanuel said on today’s TKO conference call that NXT’s deal with The CW represents a 70 percent increase in average annual value over the previous deal.
“The CW has made impressive moves over the past year with its live sports programming schedule,” WWE President Nick Khan said in a press release. “It’s a truly exciting opportunity to expand NXT’s audience by bringing the show to broadcast television for the first time in NXT’s history.”
“We are thrilled to welcome the WWE brand into the CW Sports portfolio as they play an integral role in our mission to bring live sporting events to the network year-round,” CW Network President Dennis Miller said. “WWE NXT is a perfect fit for The CW thanks to its dynamic young talent featuring the hottest rising stars in the sport and exhilarating, unpredictable weekly events. The passion and engagement of WWE’s fanbase is unmatched, and we are eager to grow that audience as WWE NXT’s new home on broadcast television.”
Leading into the new deal, WWE has increased the importance of NXT with main roster stars appearing on NXT more frequently.
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It appears that WWE NXT will be moving networks in its next television deal.
PWInsider reports that WWE and The CW are close to reaching a deal for NXT TV rights. The deal is expected to be for around five years and would “easily be the biggest increase for WWE NXT media rights fees ever.”
“Multiple sources in the broadcast industry have confirmed that the CW Network and WWE have been in deep discussions for weeks about NXT shifting from its current basic cable home on the USA Network to a traditional broadcast television home, airing live weekly on the CW Network when the brand’s current media rights deal ends in September 2024,” PWInsider wrote. “The belief among some we have spoken with is the deal is VERY close to being completed with the deal expected to be around five years in length.”
NXT has aired on USA Network since 2019. Before that, the show aired weekly on WWE Network.
NXT currently airs on Tuesday nights.
It was reported last month that the NWA had signed two TV deals with The CW, one for NWA Power and one for a reality series. But Haus of Wrestling reported over the weekend that a cocaine spot from the NWA’s Samhain pay-per-view could negatively affect those deals.
The CW launched in 2006. It was preceded by UPN and The WB networks.
WWE SmackDown will be leaving Fox and returning to USA Network with its next TV deal starting in October 2024. It remains to be seen where WWE Raw will end up.
Endeavor executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro have given an update on WWE’s talks for a new media rights deal.
Five months after originally being announced, Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE became official today. TKO Group Holdings, a merged company with WWE and the UFC, is now trading on the stock market. Endeavor holds a controlling interest of 51 percent in the new company, while WWE shareholders hold a 49 percent interest.
WWE’s media rights deals for Raw and SmackDown will be up in October 2024. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Shapiro said they’re having “very encouraging conversations with several players and platforms” regarding new rights deals.
“We’re having very encouraging conversations with several players and platforms at the moment on WWE Raw and SmackDown,” Shapiro said. “We’re cautiously optimistic, we’re, in many ways, being valued as a unicorn because we’re a year-round. WWE is a full calendar, sports and entertainment platform with significant engagement, strong reach and attractive demos. And that bodes well for these conversations and I believe that we’ll have results that are in line with market expectations.”
Shapiro stated on CNBC that they’re in discussions with both linear and digital platforms.
Emanuel added that they feel very good about where they’re at with the negotiations. He thinks the new rights deals will be line with what the market thinks will happen.
During New York Fashion Week recently, Emanuel and Paul “Triple H” Levesque were spotted sitting next to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Amazon has been rumored as a potential landing spot for SmackDown.
SmackDown currently airs on Fox. Raw and NXT both air on USA Network.
Emanuel is the CEO of both Endeavor and TKO Group Holdings. Shapiro is the president and chief operating officer of both companies.
Representatives from Endeavor, WWE, and UFC were at the New York Stock Exchange this morning to ring the opening bell. On social media, Levesque wrote that this is the most exciting time that he’s ever been a part of in the industry.
The exclusive WWE TV rights negotiating windows for both Fox and NBCUniversal have closed and the company can now officially solicit interest from the rest of the broadcast & streaming world.
The news was first reported by the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand who also included an interesting note about AEW & Warner Bros. Discovery.
While he noted incumbents traditionally remain the favorites, sources have indicated that Disney has shown interest but for FX as opposed to ESPN as the latter can’t guarantee a specific night of the week due to their rotating slate of games.
Marchand also stated that “Amazon Prime Video will be in talks for WWE, and you can see how it fits in their strategy,” given their NFL deal for Thursday night games and bidding for college football’s Big Ten conference.
Marchand also noted that he considers both Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery as dark horses candidates due to their NBA pursuits, but “one nugget I was told that may interest wrestling fans is that Warner Bros. Discovery does not have to stay exclusive to AEW. It would be something if it got in on WWE. But I don’t see it yet.”
The five-year deals with both NBCUniversal ($265 million/year for Raw) and Fox ($205 million/ year for SmackDown) expire in October 2024. WWE CEO Nick Khan has remained confident in the company getting a rights increase that could be 1.5x of what their current deals are.
WWE CEO Nick Khan continues to do the conference rounds this month, saying during a Tuesday talk that the company “doesn’t anticipate” Raw will change from its weekly three-hour format while also saying it could move off Mondays if needed.
He also said they are open to a third hour of SmackDown.
During his talk, he again brought up that the 10 PM hour for Raw is under consideration for some adjustments that would appeal to a more adult audience.
He confirmed they are still in the exclusive negotiating window with NBCUniversal on renewal rights for the Monday night institution while they are now out of that window with Fox. Those windows began during WrestleMania 39 weekend in early-April.
It’s unknown what other entities have shown interest as of now. Khan has continued to remain bullish on the TV rights interest for both properties from both broadcast and streaming entities.
He gave no indication Tuesday as to when a deal could be done with any interested party. There’s no rush for it to be done as they want to do what is best to maximize the value for WWE.
In a talk last week, Khan said they would be open to SmackDown moving off Friday nights while referencing how Amazon is attempting to program specific nights of the week for their Prime streaming service. He said Tuesday their content could go any night of the week, mentioning how Raw could also move off Mondays.
WWE and Endeavor’s UFC are expected to merge in the second half of the year to form a new publicly traded company called TKO. The deal has to pass regulatory measures first in order to do that.
Other interesting notes:
Khan said he feels NXT could be its own third brand with more crossover from Raw and SmackDown and be more than just a developmental brand.
He also said that more content could be coming with “an additional show” on another night of the week: “Once that all of (TV rights) gets situated, we’ll look at other nights of the week to develop new content as well.” Some of that new content could be more adult-themed to satisfy the audience who is looking for it.
In talking about the future with UK TV rights, Khan mentioned they have over 150,000 WWE Network subscribers at $10 USD per month in the region.
He said the goal is for every pay-per-view/PLE to have a site subsidy fee like Cardiff, Wales, with Clash at the Castle, and Backlash in Puerto Rico.
He said they see spikes on both Peacock and YouTube for older events in the lead-up to the new events (i.e. WrestleMania).
As WWE continues to talk about their next big rights deal for Raw and SmackDown, another deal is more imminent.
All WWE content on Hulu will be pulled on Saturday, September 25th as their deal for next day rights for Raw & SmackDown is set to expire.
That content includes episodes of Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Main Event, Total Divas, Total Bellas, and more. Currently, nearly all WWE content on Hulu has a ‘Exp. Sat’ flag.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson said talks are still ongoing as they are attempting to negotiate a new deal.
Hulu (approximately 46 million subscribers) is primarily owned by Disney (67%) with NBCUniversal owning the remaining stake. Both Disney and NBCUniversal are partners with WWE to varying degrees while Hulu and WWE have been partners for ten years.
On past investors calls, WWE co-CEO Nick Khan has spoken about several intriguing aspects of the company’s rights, one of which is the second-day rights for Raw and SmackDown.
Based on industry trends, he expects multiple bidders for WWE content in the years ahead as streaming services get more involved in the mix.
