In a truly historical landmark for both pro wrestling fans and streaming audiences, WWE has announced that beginning in January 2025, it will start offering its flagship weekly series Raw on Netflix in the US, Canada, the UK, and Latin America, among other markets. Raw will be added to more countries on Netflix afterward.
In a press release, Netflix stated that all of WWE"s content, including its other TV shows SmackDown and NXT, along with major live events like WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, will be available to stream on Netflix outside the US starting sometime in 2025.
The press release did not offer the financial details on the new WWE-Netflix deals, but Deadline claims from their sources that it would cost the WWE over $5 billion over the next 10 years. The US rights to WWE"s major live events, as well as other content, will remain with the rival streaming service Peacock, at least for now.
In the US, Smackdown is currently broadcast on the Fox network but is slated to return to USA Network in October 2024. You can watch NXT on USA Network in the US but it will move to the CW Network in October 2024 as well. It"s unknown if the WWE will eventually move these shows to streaming platforms in the US.
This move by Netflix is perhaps the biggest effort by the streaming service in terms of offering live events to its subscribers. Certainly, gaining access to WWE Raw in the US and other parts of the world will be a huge boost for Netflix"s live viewers, and its full access to WWE programming outside the US could cause a big increase in signups.
Netflix is slated to give its quarterly financial reports, which will include its latest subscriber numbers, later today.