WWE reality show and documentaries planned for the first year of Netflix’s deal in todays Wrestling news
The first year of the WWE-Netflix partnership will include a WWE “Drive to Survive”, type reality show.
Mark Shapiro, TKO’s chief operating officer, spoke at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on Monday. He talked about the relationship and his usual talking points, adding that, as part of the agreement that begins in January of 2025, the company will also do a lot of “ancillary shoulder programs” next year, including a series similar to the popular F1 docuseries, in addition to documentaries featuring other WWE stars.
The “Drive to Survive”, a series that was launched in 2019, is credited with a massive increase in F1’s worldwide popularity. The league signed a 3-year extension with ESPN, worth up to $90m annually, in June 2022. This is a massive increase from the previous $5m/year deal.
The WWE/Netflix agreement begins in January. Raw will be available on the streaming giant for domestic audiences and all WWE content for international audiences, where there are no existing deals.
Some other interesting quotes:
- He said they will expand their WWE deal with Saudi Arabia over the next 6-12 months. Interestingly, the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (Turki Alsheikh) said an “enhancement” will be announced this month which could mean a future WrestleMania or Royal Rumble heading to the country in 2026 or 2027 if he has his way.
- In talking about the UFC’s impending TV rights negotiations, he openly opined that ESPN should consider buying out the PPV rights and put them all on their impending direct-to-consumer flagship streaming channel exclusively. He said they haven’t pitched that to ESPN, but used that as an example of the “flexibility” they will bring to those conversations.
- He said packaging up UFC/WWE events is a big part of their strategy going forward with attendance, site fees and pricing as key performance indicators. He said if they (WWE or UFC) are coming to town, it doesn’t have to be all cash when it comes to site fees, but they have to heavily incentivized to bring events to a city.
- He said if next June’s UFC debut in Saudi Arabia goes well, he feels Dana White would be very open to bringing future events there past the one they already signed for — one that got twice the fee as the first one that hasn’t even happened yet.
WWE reality show and documentaries planned for the first year of Netflix’s deal in todays Wrestling news, Chatalong Chatbox, Results will be Hidden inside a spoiler Button so you will not bet spoiled about direct results.
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