The temporary home for WWE “Raw” will be the same as its former home.
Earlier this year, WWE announced that in January 2025, Netflix will be picking up the rights to its longtime Monday night program, whose longtime home has been the USA Network.
WWE’s parent company TKO announced in its first-quarter earnings release that “Raw” will continue to air on USA from mid-September through the end of the year for $25 million as Netflix ramps up its live streaming infrastructure to serve millions of people worldwide watching the program simultaneously.
USA’s deal to air Raw had been set to expire in September.
There will be some synergy here for WWE fans in the fall, as “SmackDown” is moving from Fox to USA, and thus for several months both of the weekly episodic programs will have the same home.
It was relatively shocking in January when WWE announced that “Raw” would be moving to Netflix, as the streaming service had not previously been a major player in live sports rights.
“We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said at the time.
“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.”
Netflix is paying WWE $5 billion in the 10-year pact, which also includes a bulk of the company’s global rights.
Netflix has the option to opt out of the deal after five years, as well as to extend the deal for an additional decade when the initial contract comes up.