WWE is moving toward bringing in another massive development in their NXT brand, by switching their network partnership. The USA Network will no longer be the home of all the NXT broadcasts from October next year.
The deal already has been making rounds all across the WWE Universe. Now, some more interesting details have emerged on the business deal.
WWE carves out a massive monetary gain from the recent CW deal
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The yellow brand has been telecasting on USA Network since October 2019. While initially the time estimated for the shows was one hour and it was exclusive to the WWE world, later the developmental brand underwent a complete revamp as NXT 2.0. There was not only a nominal change, rather the brand started focusing more on finding and building talents right. While the ‘2.0’ was removed from the branding, NXT continued with its revamped status.
Now, to give the division a new edge, WWE signed a lucrative deal with The CW Network a few days ago. As per the agreement, the channel is bound to feature around 52 weekly shows in a whole year. The deal will likely catch the eyeballs of a wider audience because it will be aired on a basic network, and not on cable.
On the top, WWE pulled in more money in the process. According to the latest report from PWInsider, the company will splash out approximately $35 million on this deal. Although they didn’t give any official information about the exact amount yet, another similar report from the deadline made it almost obvious.
The above-mentioned report reads, ”Financial terms of The CW’s #WWENXT deal weren’t released but Deadline hears it’s more than double the $15 million a year price tag of the current contract. ”
Financial terms of The CW’s #WWENXT deal weren’t released but Deadline hears it’s more than double the $15 million a year price tag of the current contract.
Source — DEADLINE pic.twitter.com/rQ0cTDttHg
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) November 7, 2023
So, it goes without saying that the 5-year media rights deal was the right call for the Stamford-based company, at least monetarily.
On the other side, the blue brand is also inching toward a big change.
SmackDown will switch to USA Network by 2024
The Friday Night SmackDown will return to NBCUniversal USA in October 2024. The deal actually made a part of the domestic media rights partnership between TKO Group Holdings and NBCUniversal. To look at the financial prospect, the deal stands at an average of $287 million per year with a total value of $1.4 billion.
WWE SmackDown has been on the journey with Fox since 2019. Now, it again lurches back to the old networking home with a roughly 40 percent increase.
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Smackdown got a 40% increase
NXT got a 70% increase
wwe cooking with these new TV rights deals pic.twitter.com/FTE2QnIdvB
— Julian Weeks (@JulianWks) November 7, 2023
Now, it will be interesting to see how wisely WWE assimilates the changes within both the major brands gradually and what will be the long-term effects.
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What’s your take on WWE garnering more money from the new CW deal?