Figure Four Weekly: WWE cashes in on TV rights boom

  • F4W Staff
  • By 

It’s been a game-changing week for WWE outside of the ring.

The company appears set to cash in on the live sports television rights boom they’ve been banking on since before their last deal with NBC Universal was agreed to in 2014. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on May 16th that the USA Network would likely be retaining Raw, with NBC Universal paying as much as three times more for the show than they did previously, which would equate to somewhere around $240 million annually. But in prioritizing Raw, it meant that SmackDown would be shopped around to other suitors.

The second shoe then dropped on Monday as multiple outlets broke the news that WWE had agreed to a deal with Fox for the rights to SmackDown, with the Hollywood Reporter noting that it’s a five-year deal that’s worth $205 million per year.

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