WWE CEO Nick Khan Talks WWE Media Rights Negotiations During Sale Talks
WWE CEO Nick Khan spoke with Sports Business Journal this week and discussed the ongoing sale talks as well as the media rights deals for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. The deals WWE has with NBCUniversal and Fox are both set to expire in 2024, though it's unclear if the company will be purchased by a major media corporation before those deals expire. Top bidders have reportedly included Comcast, Amazon, Disney, Netflix and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
"If you look at the ratings and relevancy of our product, we like to think we're in a good position," Khan said regarding media rights. "We look to get into the heat of the conversation first with our incumbents by the middle of the year or so. Depending on the timing and how strategic alternatives shake out, it will be either be middle of the year getting hot and heavy, or some time shortly thereafter,"
He then discussed the juggling act of the two separate sets of negotiations — "That's probably the trickiest of all the parts, but one thing that all potential buyers know is that the rights that Fox and NBCU negotiated for separately will obviously have to be adhered to and respected with all sorts of good faith attached to that."
WWE WrestleMania 39 Card
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Night Two)
- WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. John Cena (Night One)
- Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul (Night One)
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
- SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
- Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
- Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
- Edge vs. Finn Balor (Hell in a Cell Match)
- Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
- Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky)
- Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
- Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. TBA
WWE's WrestleMania 39 takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California on April 1-2. Stay tuned for live, full coverage of the event this weekend!