A streaming service has now secured the broadcast rights to the WWE show “Raw”. And: An icon returns.
Netflix has entered the big wrestling business. The streaming service has announced that broadcast rights to WWE’s flagship “Raw” will move from linear television to Netflix in early 2025 as a result of a multi-billion dollar deal. The rights have currently been awarded to the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Latin America, with other countries and regions to follow. In Germany the rights are still held by ProSieben MAXX.
The move to Netflix ends a tradition that has lasted over 30 years: “Raw” has been running weekly on US television since 1993. As the broadcaster CNBC and the “Sports Business Journal” unanimously report, the deal will run for ten years and is worth five billion dollars.
At the same time, the WWE announced that an icon would take an active role in the management team of the parent company TKO. We’re talking about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He will be part of the executive board and supervisory board, the “Board of Directors”. Johnson will sit on the 13-member executive board alongside boss Ari Emmanuel, WWE President Nick Khan and company founder Vince McMahon.