More Details Emerge On FOX/WWE Deal

There’s more to it than that. Earlier this month, the wrestling world was rocked as FOX acquired the broadcasting rights to SmackDown Live, starting in October 2019, for over $1 billion. To say this came as a surprise would be an understatement, as WWE was now making a fortune for just airing the show. That was the whole thing in a nutshell, but now we know a few more things than we did at the time of the deal being announced.

Check out the original announcement if you don’t remember all of the details.

Several more details about the deal have been released in a new report from the Hollywood Reporter. The deal, which was set up on May 16, was negotiated by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson. The main goal for FOX was to rebuild its content as the majority will be sold to either Walt Disney or Comcast in the near future.

FOX will air WWE promos during its regular shows and may air a weekly WWE studio show on Fox Sports 1. When combined with the new NBC Universal deal for Monday Night Raw, WWE will bring in approximately $470 million per year for television, compared to $130 million they currently make. The deal will keep WWE on FOX until October 2024.

Here’s what the USA version of SmackDown looks like at the moment.

Top 10 SmackDown LIVE moments: WWE Top 10, May 29 2018

Opinion: Well that’s certainly a lot more money. To say WWE is becoming a hot commodity all over again is the understatement of the year, but it’s not that surprising. It’s not so much that wrestling is hot right now (which it really isn’t) but it’s something with a consistent live audience that basically operates on its own. Just give WWE a platform and its fans are going to show up. If they can get something bigger out of the deal so be it, but I’m sure that huge check will make the whole thing beyond a major success.

How big of a deal is this for WWE? Will the FOX deal lead to a new boom? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 27 wrestling books. His latest book is the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume III: From Dallas To New Orleans.

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