LOS ANGELES (AP) — WWE will perform on a stage next month that could be vastly larger than its current home on cable television when “Raw,” its weekly live show, makes its debut on Netflix.
The sports entertainment company is moving to a platform with about 283 million subscribers worldwide as it departs its current home on the USA Network, which averaged 688,000 viewers in prime time last year, according to the Nielsen company.
For Netflix, onboarding the WWE is part of a strategic move to air more live events on the heels of a hugely successful fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul that was viewed by more than 60 million people.
“Raw” has been averaging about 1.5 million viewers on USA Network over the past month, according to Nielsen.
WWE has produced thousands of episodes of “Raw,” since its debut in 1993, with star performers like Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Rhea Ripley. “Raw” and the media rights that come with it, had become a hot commodity before WWE reached a deal worth more than $5 billion with Netflix.
In addition to a larger pool of potential viewers, moving to Netflix means the WWE won’t have to worry as much about curse words getting muted or potentially gory scenes or risque or obscene gestures being blurred.
And as it has done throughout its history, WWE has promoted the shift to Netflix across different platforms as it seeks to expand its audience.
During a Travis Scott concert last month, former professional wrestler and now WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque told attendees from the stage that one of the rapper’s song will be the new ”Raw” theme song, and that Scott will appear on the first episode on Netflix on January 6.
WWE has consistently managed to put itself before new and sometimes massive audiences, including the Super Bowl.
After defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII two years ago, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and MVP Patrick Mahomes posted a photo of himself on Twitter holding the Vince Lombardi trophy in one hand, and a WWE belt in the other.
Netflix sees huge potential in live entertainment in addition to its traditional lineup.
“The contributor to growing engagement is going to be across the board on our scripted and unscripted, our documentary programming, all the kinds of things that people love, including now the addition of some live hours,” Netflix co-CEO Theodore Sarandos said after the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report.
Aside from its deal with WWE, the company announced in May that it will stream two National Football League games globally on Christmas Day as part of a three-year deal with the league.
That live programming will be an important part of Netflix’s strategy going forward, said JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth.
“Netflix is increasingly focused on sports entertainment, events, and shoulder content and we expect a bigger push into live sports over time, particularly as negotiating leverage shifts in Netflix’s direction,” he wrote in an analyst note last month.
