Netflix to become new home of WWE Raw from 2025 in ‘transformative’ deal
Netflix is making further strides into the world of live sports streaming with today’s announcement of a deal to bring WWE’s Raw programme to the subscription service.
WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, and Netflix have announced a long-term partnership that will bring WWE’s flagship weekly programme Raw to the streaming service. This marks a major programming shift as Raw leaves linear television for the first time since its inception 31 years ago.
Although WWE is branded ‘sports entertainment’ by its owners, it’s another sign that Netflix appears keen to make further inroads into the world of live sports streaming; today’s deal follows Netflix’s announcement of the Netflix Slam, an exhibition tennis tie between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz that will take place on March 3.
And, in November last year, the streamer staged its first-ever live sports event with The Netflix Cup, a pro-am golf tournament which featured athletes from Netflix’s documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing.
‘Transformative’ deal
Beginning in January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of Raw in the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, among other territories, with additional countries and regions to be added over time. As part of the agreement, Netflix will also become the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the US as available, including WWE’s other weekly shows SmackDown and NXT, as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. WWE’s award-winning documentaries, original series and forthcoming projects will also be available on Netflix internationally beginning in 2025.
“This deal is transformative,” said Mark Shapiro, TKO president and COO. “It marries the can’t-miss WWE product with Netflix’s extraordinary global reach and locks in significant and predictable economics for many years. Our partnership fundamentally alters and strengthens the media landscape, dramatically expands the reach of WWE, and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix.”
“We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix,” said Netflix chief content officer, Bela Bajaria. “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.”
“In its relatively short history, Netflix has engineered a phenomenal track record for storytelling,” said Nick Khan, WWE president. “We believe Netflix, as one of the world’s leading entertainment brands, is the ideal long-term home for Raw’s live, loyal and ever-growing fan base.”
With 1,600 episodes to date, Raw is currently the number one show on USA Network, where it brings in 17.5 million unique viewers over the course of the year. One of television’s best performing shows in the 18-49 advertising demographic, Raw trends on X 52 weeks a year while each new episode is airing. On social media, WWE has more than one billion followers across its platforms.