Monday Night Raw, the flagship program of World Wrestling Entertainment, will go to Netflix in 2025.
In the 31 years that the show has been running, this will be the first time it doesn’t air on cable TV. Over its three-decade history, Raw has been shown on the USA Network, TNN, Spike TV, and SciFi/Syfy.
This is also the massive streaming service’s first significant venture into sports content. The agreement is said to be for more than $5 billion and ten years. According to Forbes, Apple paid $250 million for MLS games and $85 million for exclusive MLB games, while Amazon spent $1.2 billion on Thursday Night Football.
The show will first be available on Netflix in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, with additional nations and regions to be added at a later, undisclosed period, according to the company. Netflix will be the only location to watch any WWE program that is shot outside of the United States.
According to TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro, “this deal is transformative.” It combines the incredible worldwide reach of Netflix with the must-watch WWE content, securing substantial and steady commercial returns over an extended period of time. Our collaboration significantly broadens WWE’s audience, improves the media environment, and adds weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix.
Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, a former WWE star, joined TKO Group Holdings’ board of directors on Tuesday.
Jan. 11, 1993 was the launch of Raw on the USA Network, where it is presently shown. WWE claims that Raw is the top show on the network, drawing approximately 17.5 million unique viewers annually.
