Disney Wants WWE? — Reports
Disney has reportedly emerged as one of the favorites to land WWE’s broadcasting rights.
WWE’s current deal with Comcast and Fox is reportedly set to expire in 2024. Comcast is paying $264 million per year for USA Network to be the home of Monday Night Raw, while Fox is paying $205 million to be the home of Friday Night SmackDown. With WWE’s broadcasting rights deal with Fox and Comcast set to come to an end, so who will land the rights to WWE’s weekly wrestling shows?
Disney
Disney is reportedly a strong contender to land WWE’s broadcasting rights, according to the New York Post. Still, there are plenty of companies who are also interested in landing WWE, including Amazon Prime, Warner Bros., Discovery and Apple. However, Fox and Comcast are reportedly still the favorites to land the broadcasting rights after 2024.
It is worth noting that even though Disney is interested, the company reportedly would put it in on FX as opposed to ESPN. Another thing worth noting is that WWE was bought by Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC. ESPN houses all UFC content, so Disney’s chances of acquiring broadcasting rights may be higher. WWE CEO, Nick Khan, also has a good relationship with ESPN’s President of Content, Burke Magnus, and Chairman, Jimmy Pitaro.
WWE was sold to Endeavor a few months ago and is still in the process of putting the deal through. Furthermore, Endeavor is making a new company to house both the UFC and the WWE, so it appears likely that wrestling fans will start to get crossovers from UFC stars once the promotion’s talent retires and transitions to the WWE.
