From January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of wrestling program Monday Night Raw, produced by WWEin the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, among others, the company said in a statement on Tuesday after paying $5,000 million for the agreement.
Both companies confirmed that it was a “long-term” agreement, but the terms were not officially announced.
However, the trade press today indicates that the agreement between Netflix and WWE is for 10 years and will cost the streaming platform more than 5,000 million dollars.
This is the first time that this popular show – the number one show on NBCUniversal and attracts 17.5 million viewers year-round – has left traditional cable television.
With this purchase, Netflix, which already has a wide range of films and series, aims to become an essential subscription for entertainment and live content.
The deal gives Netflix access to around 150 hours of live content per year.
Netflix also gets international rights to other WWE shows, such as “Smackdown” and “NXT” and other major wrestling events such as “WrestleMania”.
Other streaming platforms such as Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery are also interested in becoming Raw's new home, according to the trade press.
Another example is that betting on sports is becoming increasingly common on streaming platforms AppleTV which the Major League Soccer league added to its repertoire last year.