WWE Seeking International Streaming Deal

With a U.S. media rights deal already in place, WWE is now pursuing the value of its international streaming rights. 

The wrestling media company is looking for a global deal along the lines of its recent pact with NBCUniversal. WWE migrated to Peacock on a five-year streaming deal reportedly worth over $1 billion. 

A robust media offering has been the key to WWE’s success:

• It’s in the middle of a five-year linear programming deal with Fox Sports, worth just over $1 billion.
• In August, WWE announced a podcast deal with The Ringer and Spotify.
• WWE’s Q2 revenues grew 19% year-over-year to $265.6 million, driven by $233.9 million in media revenue.
• The company currently has a patchwork of linear and streaming deals in China and various European countries with Baidu’s iQIYI, DAZN, Virgin Media, and others.

With 81.1 million subscribers, WWE is the most popular sports channel on YouTube, and its 13.3 million TikTok followers match the NBA and best the NFL and MLB.

WWE boasts enduring popularity: Its “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” was the top-rated show on Friday. Its recent SummerSlam event at Allegiant Stadium had around quadruple the gate revenue of the same event in 2019 in Scotiabank Arena, the company told FOS.