https://www.wsj.com/business/media/netflix-wins-wwe-raw-rights-in-livestreaming-push-a0a73542

Starting in January 2025, WWE Raw will move from USA Network to Netflix as part of a 10-year $5 billion deal. "Securing rights to the popular weekly show is a sign of Netflix’s ambition of being a must-have home-entertainment subscription with a vast library of TV shows and films as well as live content," says The Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint. "The long-term deal is the streamer’s largest to date for live sports-entertainment rights and continues a migration of athletic events that once aired exclusively on cable and broadcast television to streaming platforms." The deal also gives Netflix international streaming rights to shows such as Smackdown and NXT. Flint adds: "The agreement with Netflix is valued at more than $5 billion with an option for the streamer to extend the pact for an additional 10 years or opt out after the initial five years, according to a regulatory filing from TKO. NBCUniversal’s USA Network is the current rightsholder for Raw with a five-year deal valued at more than $1.3 billion. The NBCUniversal agreement didn’t include international rights." As The Hollywood Reporter's Alex Weprin notes, "WWE Raw is a big step in the direction of live sports, with recurring rights fees similar to that of other major leagues. Netflix, like Apple, has sought global rights for sports in the discussions it has held with partners. While the WWE is not entirely exclusive, it will give the streaming giant near-global scale for WWE content, and total global rights to Raw over time."

WWE Raw's move to Netflix could be transformative for all of sports (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/wwes-raw-announces-move-to-netflix-next-year-in-deal-worth-over-5-billion#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThis%20deal%20is%20transformative%2C%E2%80%9D,predictable%20economics%20for%20many%20years.)

“This deal is transformative,” Mark Shapiro, TKO president and COO, said in a prepared statement. “It marries the can't-miss WWE product with Netflix's extraordinary global reach and locks in significant and predictable economics for many years.

WWE's Raw will still be family friendly on Netflix (https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64990809/?ref_=nm_nwr_2#:~:text=While%20fans%20had%20hoped%20the,TV%2Dpg%E2%80%9D%20content%20rating.)

While fans had hoped the new streaming platform would offer more leeway to push the boundaries on storylines and even profanity, WWE president Nick Khan and chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque say that WWE Raw will maintain its “TV-PG” content rating.

In sports it seems that Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have become sports kings in streaming services with Amazon Prime Video becoming NFL king and Netflix with boxing matches. With WWE now becoming tops in streaming services that opens another door. Because when you get the general picture with WWE wrestling found on Peacock it has turned WWE into the biggest franchise and moneymaker in streaming sports. With Netflix now the new home of WWE Raw in January 2025 I bet why WWE Raw is moving from USA is because USA's contract with WWE Raw has expired and WWE thinks Netflix will give WWE Raw bigger ratings once it debuts on Netflix. Because if you look at it from a different vision depending on however you view it WWE itself has been the number one sport for a long time and people who watch WWE know that to keep it alive is to give it huge ratings. And when you add anything WWE to any channel or streaming service it usually garners huge ratings. When WWE Raw is gone from USA I bet USA will air more WWE wrestling or perhaps launch boxing matches and other sports too. But in my eyes this was a shocking move to WWE Raw fans who have been longtime followers of it for a long time

After the beginning of this calendar year, I'm guessing USA Network could be airing movies where WWE Raw formerly aired going forward. Tonight, being offered by the cable network is London Has Fallen at 6:00 PM Eastern, then Wrath of Man at 8:00 PM Eastern.

After the beginning of this calendar year, I'm guessing USA Network could be airing movies where WWE Raw formerly aired going forward. Tonight, being offered by the cable network is London Has Fallen at 6:00 PM Eastern, then Wrath of Man at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Yes, for the 1st time in 32 years WWF/WWE RAW is not seen regularly under the weekly basis on linear television[Cable or Over The Air] and for the the first time in little over 19 years, Monday Night RAW is not on USA Network because RAW just ended its 2nd stint(2005-2024) on USA Network; RAW’s first USA Network stint lasted from 1993 to 2000 before TNN/Spike(now Paramount Network) aired from 2000 to 2005) after last weeks episode.

WWE's Monday Night Raw debut on Netflix looked stunning, like a big-budget movie premiere (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6044586/2025/01/07/netflix-debut-of-wwe-felt-massive-plus-more-takeaways/)

"From the celebrities in the audience to music star Travis Scott accompanying WWE Superstar Jey Uso to the ring, Monday’s production felt more like a premium live event (PLE)," says The Athletic's Richard Deitsch, Chris Vannini and Jason Jones. "It felt designed to appeal to a wider audience than typical pro wrestling fans — and the new distribution channel on Netflix was clearly intended to take advantage of the platform’s worldwide reach." Deitsch adds: "As much as last night was about a new era for pro wrestling — more on that in a bit — the bigger picture is Netflix’s sports ambitions. The reason why this should matter as a sports fan is Netflix is a behemoth with about 270 million subscribers globally, including 80 million in the U.S. and Canada, and a market capitalization north of $395 billion. The company’s foray as a distributor for WWE’s live programming, coupled with its recent NFL broadcasts, make it clear that Netflix is on the path to being a player for upcoming live sports rights. This will change the landscape of sports consumption and cause consternation for the traditional linear powers given its financial might. As a pure production play: Last night’s look was stunning, especially how the WWE opened the show. It felt massive. Yes, there was an inordinate amount of celebrity overkill and an absurd amount of Netflix promotion (including now-corporate babyface Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson cutting an in-ring promo for the company), but last night was a mega success given the reams of attention from social media and conventional press that both Netflix and the WWE received. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance at a first impression, and Netflix and the WWE won big."

ALSO:


WWE embracing the live aspects of its programming makes it a perfect fit for Netflix's future — and present (https://awfulannouncing.com/wwe/raw-debut-showcased-future-both-companies.html): "On the surface, WWE Raw‘s debut episode on Netflix had everything a pro wrestling fan could have wanted," says Ben Axelrod. "A WrestleMania-caliber card. Multiple cameos from industry legends. Championship changes and major storyline developments. Oh, and of course, The Rock. And yet despite WWE clearly making a sizable effort to deliver on one of the most highly anticipated episodes of Raw in its 32-year history, most pro wrestling fans I know — the kind who subscribe to Dave Meltzer’s newsletter and spend thousands of dollars each year to attend WrestleMania — hated the show. The matches were too long and slowly paced. The storyline development was predictable, if not underwhelming. And most notably, The Rock inexplicably spent his entire appearance on the program out of character, effectively taking a blowtorch to whatever was left from his blockbuster rivalry with Cody Rhodes and a year’s worth of storyline development. Sure, this might have been a WrestleMania-caliber show. But it was closer to WrestleMania 32-36 (if you know, you know) than it was the critically acclaimed “Showcase of the Immortals” that WWE has delivered on post-COVID. And yet, despite marks like myself and my pro wrestling-based group chat feeling let down by WWE’s Netflix debut, the reality of the situation is that this show was never about us. Rather, it was about ushering in WWE’s new era — 'the Netflix era,' as COO Paul 'Triple H' Levesque dubbed it in the show’s opening segment."

What Monday Night Raw on Netflix was like for a WWE newbie: “It’s admittedly a lot to take in for the uninitiated” (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/netflix-monday-night-raw-premiere-recap-1236103315/)

Hulk Hogan was relentlessly booed by the Los Angeles audience at Monday Night Raw (https://www.mediaite.com/sports/watch-hulk-hogan-booed-relentlessly-during-surprise-appearance-on-monday-night-raw/)

Bill Simmons failed to avoid becoming a meme sitting next to Nikki Bella (https://awfulannouncing.com/wwe/bill-simmons-failed-avoid-becoming-meme-next-nikki-bella.html)

WWE's Monday Night Raw debut on Netflix attracts 4.9 million views (https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/wwe-monday-night-raw-netflix-viewership-4-9-million-views-ratings-1236266931/)

"That is according to Live+1 data provided by Netflix, with a view defined as total hours viewed for the program divided by its runtime," explains Variety's Joe Otterson. "The 4.9 million views came from countries like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Latin America, but did not include 92 countries/territories where Netflix doesn’t yet distribute WWE, including France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea." Raw also was viewed by 2.6 million households in the U.S., according to VideoAmp.

What WWE Monday Night Raw's move to Netflix also meant is that Netflix is probably gonna get all the WWE live events and even WWE Smackdown in the future will be next. Because as I mentioned in my previous post on this subject Netflix wants to be king of sports streaming second to Amazon Prime and Netfilx hopes that the addition of WWE Monday Night Raw will garner more subscribers and just like Amazon Prime has NBA basketball and NFL football games Netflix hopes that WWE wrestling will be successful. But I think when you get the general picture this new route will be a new trend for watching WWE or any sport

WWE Raw marred by glitches with its 5th Netflix show (https://awfulannouncing.com/wwe/wwe-raw-endures-worst-technical-glitches-since-moving-to-netflix.html)

"Raw‘s glitches included the Netflix feed repeatedly buffering and briefly cutting to a black screen — similar to the issues that affected the streamer’s presentation of November’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing event," says Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod. "They were most prevalent during the show’s closing segment, which saw CM Punk defeat Sami Zayn, who was then attacked in shocking fashion by his longtime friend/sometimes rival Kevin Owens." Until Monday night, WWE Raw had been relatively smooth since launching on Netflix on Jan. 6.