The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Thursday morning that Friday Night SmackDown would be heading back to the USA Network on a new media rights deal in 2024. WWE’s Blue Brand has landed on various channels since its debut in 1999 and finally joined Monday Night Raw on the channel in 2016. Three years later, WWE announced a massive deal that would see SmackDown land on network television thanks to a billion-dollar deal with Fox. SmackDown has consistently been WWE’s most-watched weekly show ever since it arrived on FOX in October 2019.
But while a return to cable could result in a smaller viewership, WWE’s new deal with NBCUniversal will lead to exponentially more money. According to The Wall Street Journal, the five-year deal was valued at $1.4 billion, a 40% increase from the Fox contract.
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“Even at a moment when content spending has never been more scrutinized in the industry, premium properties like WWE with a massive following and huge engagement will always win out,” Mark Shapiro told the outlet.
Will Raw and NXT Leave USA?
There’s already some debate over what’s next for Monday Night Raw and NXT, both of which are currently housed on USA but have their TV deals expiring next year as well. THR‘s report indicated both shows were leaving the channel and that negotiations with “traditional linear networks, streaming services and ‘unexpected players’ all interested.”
The Wall Street Journal’s report echoed that, stating the cost of SmackDown put NBCU out of the running to take the other two shows. However, John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal is still reporting that NBCU is the leading candidate to retain Raw and NXT’s TV rights. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades,” WWE President Nick Khan said in the press release announcing the SmackDown deal. “We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”
“It’s a privilege and thrill to continue NBCU’s decades-long partnership with WWE which has helped cement USA Network’s consistent position as the top-rated cable entertainment network in live viewership” Frances Berwick, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment, added. “With Friday nights on USA, primetime specials on NBC, and the WWE hub on Peacock, we’ll continue to use the power of our portfolio to super-serve this passionate fanbase.”
