Netflix just bought the exclusive streaming rights to WWE’s Monday Night “Raw”, and their weekly “Smackdown” in the U.S. and Internationally, as well as WWE’s pay-per-view events like the “Royal Rumble” and “WrestleMania”, for a reported $5 billion dollars over the next 10 years.
This steps up Netflix’s game in the live sports streaming industry to the level as Amazon Prime, who signed a $1.2 billion per-year deal with the NFL to air Thursday night games beginning in 2022, and Apple who struck a $250 million per-year deal with the Major League Soccer (MLS) as well as an $85 million per-year deal with the Major League Baseball (MLB) to broadcast exclusive games.
In an interview with Variety, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said “We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix.”
He went on to say “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’s $5 billion dollar deal is only the latest in the streaming wars. A few years ago in 2021 Amazon Prime signed a deal worth $11 billion dollars, or $1 billion dollars a year, for 11 years for NFL’s Thursday Night Football streaming rights.
In 2023 Warner Bros. Discovery began streaming NBA games to its Max service in a deal worth $24 billion dollars over 9 years.
And one of my favorite sports, Formula 1, has reportedly been in discussions with Apple to stream Formula 1 races for a rumored $2 billion dollars a year.
If I had to look into my crystal ball and guesstimate the future of the live streaming landscape I’d say it’ll continue to change and evolve as media companies smell new opportunities to attract consumer’s attention, and the advertising dollars that go along with them.
Netflix is paying $5 billion to be the home of WWE’s Monday Night Raw