(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.
