WWE has begun negotiating their next broadcast deal before the current arrangement with Fox Sports NBCU ends in October next year. A new wave of hope has arisen among new bidders with the current deal nearing its end.
As new bidders, such as Amazon and Apple, who currently own the broadcasting rights for One Championship and MLS Season Pass are looking to establish stronger footholds in combat broadcasting with WWE rights bidding.
The bid would open broadcast rights for flagship shows such as "WWE SmackDown," "WWE Raw," and "WWE NXT."
As reported by the New York Post, sources say Disney is interested in adding the professional wrestling giant’s weekly programming to its roster of shows. Disney has emerged as a prominent candidate among the potential suitors for WWE's flagship programs.
With the advent of family shows in 1995, Disney has been able to become one of the leading platforms for children's entertainment and is now set to foray into the combat arena.
Considering the recently announced partnership between Endeavor and WWE of $9.3 billion, Disney could be a great candidate for the bid since it has a great relationship with Endeavor, increasing its chances.
While ESPN and Fox Sports' parent company, Disney already has a presence in the combat industry, it is now showing a keen interest in getting involved with combat sports.
It intends to partner with FX to make that happen. FX is considered an ideal choice because it would help WWE not get disturbed because of other live sports. It would not be the first time that Disney had proactively shown its interest as back in 2019 Disney considered acquiring UFC for $4.5 billion.
WWE is unlikely to find a home at ESPN as many live leagues are set this due course and would clash with the show's broadcast.
The current deals with Fox Sports and Comcast are worth $205 MILLION and $265 million per year respectively. At present with the booming viewership of WWE, both parties are reportedly keen for further extension of the rights.
SmackDown has a viewership of 2.27 million and 955,000 in the 18-49 demographic while RAW has 1.82 million viewers.
In the meantime, WWE CEO Nick Khan expressed his satisfaction with working with both Fox and NBCU. He said,
"Conversations with both have gone phenomenally well. What we are trying to balance here is getting the maximum value for what we consider these media rights to be."
Over the course of this season, fans will certainly experience more and more entertainment regardless of whether new platforms pave the way for this big league or the team approaches existing companies for their rights.
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