Netflix will stream WWE’s ‘Raw’ starting in January 2025
- The five-year deal is worth more than $5 billion
- It's part of Netflix's foray into livestreaming sports
- WWE 'Raw' will end its run on USA in October 2024
FILE – Wrestler Carmelo Hayes raises his arms after defeating Akira Tozawa during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury subpoena to WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon last month, July 2023, according to a regulatory filing. McMahon is also taking medical leave from the sports entertainment company following recent spinal surgery. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
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(NewsNation) — World Wrestling Entertainment and Netflix have reached a deal for the streaming platform to air the weekly show “Raw” beginning in January 2025.
“Raw” previously aired on cable, moving between USA and TNN in the years beginning in 1993, with the current deal with USA ending in October 2024.
The five-year deal is valued at more than $5 billion and includes international rights to “Raw” as well as other WWE programs. Netflix also has an option to extend the deal for an additional ten years.
The acquisition is part of Netflix’s efforts to increase subscribers as new streaming platforms have entered the market. The addition of livestreaming events will be a significant shift for the company.
Netflix has also cracked down on subscription sharing and experimented with an ad-tier membership in an effort to boost subscriber numbers and hold onto viewers frustrated by a fragmented streaming market that can make it difficult to find and watch the shows they want.
Previous experiments with live-streaming sports on Netflix included a golf tournament featuring Formula One drivers from the platform’s documentary “Drive to Survive” and plans to stream a tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in March.
It’s not clear where “Raw” will air between the end of the USA deal in October 2024 and the start of the Netflix deal in January 2025.
