Netflix has announced a $5 billion deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to broadcast its flagship program Raw, marking the streaming giant's biggest push into live television. The decade-long agreement will bring Raw exclusively to Netflix in the US, Britain, and other markets starting January 2025, with additional countries to follow.
The deal underscores Netflix's strategy to diversify beyond on-demand content and compete for live audiences. Raw, a weekly live show, will be joined by other WWE programs like SmackDown and special events outside the US. Netflix has the option to exit after five years or extend for another decade, according to a stock market filing.
The announcement coincided with Netflix's fourth-quarter earnings report, which revealed a record 260 million subscribers globally, adding 13.1 million in the final months of 2023. Revenue rose 12.5% to $8.8 billion, while net income surged to $938 million from $55 million a year earlier.
Netflix has experimented with live events in the past year, including a Chris Rock stand-up special and a celebrity golf event, though a live reunion of its reality series Love Is Blind faced technical glitches. The WWE deal is expected to strengthen Netflix's position as the world's largest streaming platform.
TKO Group, owner of WWE, saw shares jump 15.8% on the news, while Netflix shares rose 8.5% after earnings. Netflix credited its subscriber growth to a crackdown on password sharing and the introduction of an ad-supported tier.
