Could WWE SmackDown Leave Friday Nights Soon?
WWE's SmackDown brand might be moving nights once again. While the show initially premiered as a Thursday night show back in 1999 it spent a decade on Friday nights from September 2005 to January 2015. From there it moved back to Thursday and then Tuesday before finally returning to Friday nights in 2019 as part of the ongoing network TV deal with FOX. Said deal expires next year, and while WWE CEO Nick Khan recently talked about "productive" negotiations with Fox about a new deal, the exclusivity window between the network and the pro wrestling promotion is reportedly closing.
While at the SVB MoffettNathanson conference this past week, Khan openly floated the idea of SmackDown moving nights yet again if a deal doesn't get finalized with Fox. He also said he anticipated the next media rights deal to be a significant increase.
Either way, Khan, being interviewed at the SVB MoffettNathanson Conference, foresees a U.S. rights increase of 1.5x or so. So, we're talking about an opening figure of $1.5 billion for 5 years of #SmackDown, should length of term remain same. https://t.co/pHk89UxvOF
— Tony Maglio (@TonyMaglio) May 18, 2023
On top of the media rights deal, WWE is also in the process of a merger with The UFC to form TKO Group Holdings as part of Endeavor. Both Khan and Paul "Triple H" Levesque recently talked about what kind of effect this will have on WWE's booking.
"I can certainly represent emphatically to you on the creative that there's no one at Endeavor or the UFC that has any interest in trying to interfere with that, in any way whatsoever," Khan said during a quarterly investors' conference call. "I think [UFC President] Dana White would also represent to you that never or almost never, I don't know the specifics but never would be my guess, have the Endeavor folks told him no, you should do this match or you should do it this way. That's not what they do."
"Creatively, we look forward to continuing to do what we do and the momentum that it has," Levesque added. "And on top of that, I speak for myself, I'm incredibly excited about what endeavor brings to the table and how we can utilize them to expand our efforts and really hyper focus on them internationally and, and growing what we do across the globe. I think they'll be incredibly helpful there."
WWE Night of Champions 2023 Card (As of Now)
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Mustafa Ali
- Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
