The future looks very bright for WWE on Netflix after a highly successful experiment took place for fans in New Zealand in April 2024.
It was revealed in March that WWE Monday Night Raw will move to Netflix in January 2025 as part of a $5 billion deal between the two sides.
The blockbuster move will see Raw leave traditional broadcast television in favor of streaming in perhaps the biggest change to WWE content since the launch of the WWE Network in 2014. Speaking at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Monday, TKO COO Mark Shapiro revealed that WWE has already tested a major PLE on the streaming giant.
“We did a test in April in New Zealand, for WrestleMania. We aired WrestleMania on Netflix in New Zealand. No promotion, no marketing whatsoever. No press release. Nobody knew it was happening because we were all nervous that it wouldn’t necessarily work so well. [It was] kind of the guinea pig trial.
“Well it went off without a hitch, that’s the good news. But secondly, the gravy on top of that was we were the highest-rated program that night on all of streaming and linear. So a great story for us.”
Mark Shapiro, President & COO, Endeavor Group Holdings Inc, talks airing this year's Wrestlemania on Netflix in New Zealand.pic.twitter.com/NXPWX6Xhqb
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 20, 2024
Fans outside the United States will have an even sweeter deal when the Netflix deal comes into effect this coming January. In addition to receiving Raw, they will also receive SmackDown, WWE NXT, and Premium Live Events as part of the ten-year deal.
WWE’s Netflix deal marks a serious step for the company that has previously dominated the airwaves in more traditional formats of broadcasting. It’s not just the Netflix deal that reflects a change from the norm. WWE recently began hosting its new WWE Speed show exclusively on Twitter. A filing for WWE Vault, perhaps another new show, has recently been filed.
