Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel has commented on the WWE media rights negotiations that will see SmackDown heading back to the USA Network.
On September 21 2023, WWE announced that SmackDown would be returning to USA Network in October 2024 as part of a “five-year domestic media rights partnership.”
USA Network is the current home for both NXT and WWE Raw, which also will be undergoing media rights negotiations.
At the Bloomberg Screentime Conference, Emanuel commented on Raw, WWE Network and more.
One of the big takeaways was Emanuel’s openness to switching days if that means a getting a better deal.
He said:
“We got a 40 percent increase for SmackDown. We have Raw which is the number one package available.
“There’s three rights coming available to market. Three big rights: WWE Raw, UFC, NBA. We are involved in two of them.
“There’s six buyers, plus I would say WWE Network which is up in ‘26. I think I’m saying that — maybe ‘25, ‘26.
“So, you cannot undervalue the WWE and UFC for the following reasons: One, we do not have a season. One of the biggest issues that will happen with s-mods and networks is churn. We’re 52 weeks a year, right? And we’re flexible.
“You want us Thursday night? You want us Tuesday night? I don’t have any of those scheduling issues and that churn issue because we’re the full year.
“It’s so much different than any other sport because then people churn out. That’s one of the issues with sports. Not in a bad way… and then the package is over and then you leave. We do not have that. Our fans are loyal, they stick around and they move.”
With WWE Raw rights up in 2024, Emanuel would also comment on the level of interest in that show, adding:
“I would say to you there’s plenty of interest in Raw, right now. I know people are like, ‘NBC is out of the mix’ and that’s why it went down.
“I think there’s three things that happened. One, the reason the stock is down is they thought Raw was the best package. I saw 40 percent increase which was in line with expectations… Two, the P.F.L. situation and three, probably Vince (McMahon) in our deal, wanted to be able to put, at any point in time, his stock. He’s 78 years old. He’s been working at this for decades and decades so, I think those three back-to-back issues…”
WWE President Nick Khan spoke about the return to USA Network talking about the ongoing relationship with NBCUniversal and revealing that they will be “debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”
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