“Frontrunning contenders for “SmackDown” rights include Fox, Facebook and Amazon.” – Variety

Smackdown Live! is likely to have a new home when WWE and USA’s current agreement expires later this year.

Currently, Fox is the leading candidate to land Shane McMahon’s brand but there are other suitors out there. A recent article from Variety spoke to senior analyst for Wells Fargo, Eric Katz about how Smackdown will do on the open market.

“We think ‘SmackDown’ is due for a big raise as well, and likely still viewed as a bargain for several players reportedly interested,” Katz said.

The Variety article also included analysis from a Guggenheim report on WWE’s current television renewals situation.

“The company sits in a much stronger financial and negotiating position now than in 2014 (having just launched the WWE Network while PPV was winding down),” the report reads. “We believe that WWE stands to make significant headway during its coming television contract negotiations due to an enhanced brand, new [business-to-business] relationships, more potential bidders than ever, and a contract that under-indexes other live premium programming.”

Smackdown to Fox, Facebook, or Amazon?

Fox recently sold off the majority of their assets to pave the way for a switch to increased live programming. Facebook and Amazon are also interested suitors, however. The addition of streaming services and social media sites in the bidding has put the WWE in a greater place of leverage than ever before.

WWE previously partnered with Facebook Live for the Mixed Match Challenge. 35 million engagements were reported for the first episode of the tournament. WWE was said to be unhappy with the overall viewership of the Mixed Match Challenge, however. The tournament was eventually won by the Miz and Asuka.

Where do you want to see Smackdown Live end up? Fox? Amazon? Facebook Live? Tell us in the comments section below.