Netflix Teams Up with WWE to Boost Global Wrestling Craze

Raw, the weekly World Wrestling Entertainment spectacle that has been a fixture of US television for three decades, will be the first episode of Netflix’s next venture into live programming, which will commence on Monday.

WWE executives are relocating their flagship program from Comcast’s USA Network to the new streaming platform to attract a broader audience of fans of all ages worldwide.“It was time for our brand to align with Netflix’s in terms of its global reach and the strength of its brand,” stated WWE President Nick Khan.Netflix has entered into a 10-year agreement to pay over $5 billion for the rights to broadcast Raw and other WWE programming, such as Smackdown and Wrestlemania. This agreement is a component of the streaming service’s expansion into live events that appeal to advertisers.

In ongoing storylines that captivated viewers, WWE gained popularity by featuring colorful characters like Hulk Hogan and future movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.Bela Bejaria, who is currently the chief content officer at Netflix, was one of his fans. She remembered witnessing outsized personalities like Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and Hogan with her grandfather after her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was nine.

“It appears that my family’s experience of watching wrestling is not that uncommon,” Bejaria stated. “They have a substantial multi-generational fan base, a roster of celebrities, and captivating drama,” Bejaria noted that the WWE currently has over one billion followers on social media.“It was only natural to combine the fandom and reach of Netflix with the intensity of WWE fans,” she stated.

Raw will be available for live streaming on Netflix in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and other territories every Monday. Later this year, it will be available in select countries, including India, in April.WWE intends to recruit superstars from around the globe and will host additional Raw and Smackdown events in international markets in 2025.

Khan stated, “We cannot simply be an American company that produces American content in the hopes that people will watch and listen.” “We must be present on the ground.” John Cena, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and other wrestlers and actors will appear on Raw, broadcast live from outside Los Angeles on Monday.

The program will be broadcast 52 weeks annually, representing a substantial increase from the few live events that Netflix has conducted to date.In November, Netflix reported 65 million concurrent streams for a boxing match between 58-year-old Mike Tyson and 27-year-old YouTube personality Jake Paul. Certain users reported buffering issues during the conflict.

Netflix has strengthened its technology and attributed the errors to the high volume of viewers. On Christmas Day, Netflix successfully broadcast two National Football League games, each of which attracted over 30 million viewers.Paul Levesque, WWE’s chief content officer, is not concerned about the potential for a few mishaps during Raw’s debut.