Netflix has snapped up exclusive rights to the WWE — what does this mean for sports broadcasting?
From next January, WWE fans can watch wrestling on Netflix through its weekly programme Raw. Picture: Joern Pollex/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Next January, a bit of television history will be made.
For 31 years, WWE wrestling fans have been able to tune in to watch their fan favourites battle the dastardly bad guys.
TV ratings were the #1 factor for lead writers and those that book the show in determining what storylines would work and where they would put them — you would usually see a ‘bigger name’ like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, The Rock or Triple H put at the top of the second hour of the flagship show to capitalise on the potential ratings.
At its peak in 1999, an estimated 9.2m viewers (or one in every 12 TVs at the time) were watching .
However, the rise of streaming, the increase in other options on TV, and the decline in the quality of the WWE product have led to regular ratings of around 1.3m.
But, just days ago, Netflix and WWE announced a new partnership which could go a long way to turning this decline in ratings around.
Internationally, more than 247m people use Netflix — so the move makes sense from both sides.
From 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive home to the WWE's flagship weekly programme, .
The deal runs until 2030, at which point Netflix will have the option to extend it until 2035 or even 2045 if they so wish.
It has sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling industry, given that in it’s three-decade existence, has always been on cable television.
However, it also points to what live sport may be like in the future as Netflix has stopped dipping its toes in the water and is instead ascending to the diving board.
In the last few years, we’ve seen streaming companies start to make a move into the live sport industry.
Apple forked out an enormous $2.5bn for a 10-year deal to broadcast Major League Soccer, the soccer league in the United States home to Lionel Messi, while Amazon Prime grabbed exclusive rights to two rounds of Premier League fixtures in the UK, Thursday Night Football NFL games in the US, as well as the Champions League, the WNBA and occasional rugby internationals
Up until the purchase of the WWE rights, Netflix had been testing their audiences out with sports documentaries, the most notable being which many have been credited with the resurgence in interest in Formula 1.
Since the first season of we’ve seen similar attempts for tennis ( ), Golf ( ), and even the Six Nations with launching on the service last week.
And while none of them have caught the same level of interest as , their numbers will have given Netflix bosses some food for thought about live sport.
The hybrid sports and entertainment nature of the WWE is a perfect tester for the company — it is year-round as opposed to seasonal like most sports — and it will benefit fans too.
Previously, if wrestling fans wanted to watch live WWE legally they would need to buy a TNT/BT Sports package for an absolute minimum of €45 a month.
For the extensive WWE back catalogue on their own WWE Network, you were adding €12.99 a month on to that.
There aren’t many better deals for live sport/entertainment being offered by the major TV companies, which is the main reason that we’ve seen the rise of the so-called ‘dodgy box’.
In Ireland, barring any discounts on offer from your broadcaster, a sports package to include all televised Premier League games will set you back more than €100 a month, or some €1,200 a year.
In a cost-of-living crisis, it is hardly surprising to see people and businesses turn to 'dodgy boxes', which cost substantially less.
The Premier League and the gardaí have both warned those who operate the streams behind these boxes that they will be clamping down and there have been several prosecutions in Irish courts in recent months for those using or selling such devices, but it still hasn't dissuaded many users.
With that in mind, the sporting bigwigs will be facing a major turning point in the next few years as TV rights deals come up for grabs.
In December, Sky shelled out €7.8bn to keep hold of the Premier League rights until 2029, allowing them to show 215 games across those five years, with TNT getting 53 games per year and the BBC continuing with highlights.
According to their latest figures, Netflix’s revenue in Q4 of 2023 was €8.12bn.
If the WWE experiment is successful, they could use some of that to land the first haymaker in the future of live sport.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
