The New York Post reports that the window of exclusive negotiating with both Comcast and FOX for the WWE’s television rights is now over without a deal from either company. The deal ends next year.
This means that the WWE is now able to solicit bids from outside source which may include Amazon and Disney. According to the NY Post (via SBJ), if Disney is interested, it would not put WWE programming on ESPN, but FX.
WWE currently is on FOX with its SmackDown brand and is on the USA Network with Comcast for Raw.
Payout Perspective:
Those in the industry of media deals state that the lapse of the exclusive negotiation window is common especially with the popularity of the WWE right now as well as the recent acquisition by Endeavor. The next media deal should be very interesting to watch and see where the deal leads. Also interested will be the UFC as it will be eyeing a new deal with Disney in the future.
Leave a Reply