Netflix Executive Comments On Vince McMahon Allegations & Groundbreaking WWE Raw Deal
January 2024 will go down as one of the most important months in WWE history, for good and bad reasons. On one hand, the company announced January 23 that they had inked a deal with streaming giant Netflix, with the agreement being worth an estimated $5 Billion. The deal will see "WWE Raw" broadcast live on the platform every week in the United States beginning in January 2025, with "WWE Smackdown," "WWE NXT," Premium Live Events, and more all being added to the platform for subscribers in places like Canada, the UK, and Latin America at the same time.
However that news was overshadowed a few days later, as on January 25, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and the company itself. Grant accused McMahon of sex trafficking, physical and emotional abuse, as well as multiple counts of sexual assault and rape, with the suit coming as a result of McMahon not paying Grant the money he promised her when she signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2022.
Some thought that the suit against McMahon and WWE would potentially throw a spanner in the works when it comes to the company's deal with Netflix, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At a recent event entitled 'Next on Netflix,' the platform's Content Chief Bela Bajaria wasted no time in addressing the allegations surrounding McMahon. "He's gone," Bajaria said. "So he's not there. He's gone." McMahon resigned his positions in WWE and TKO Group Holdings' board on January 26, stating that the allegations are false and that he will defend himself and his character.
WWE's Netflix deal is big for the streaming giant
While fans with Netflix subscriptions might have to wait until 2025 for the partnership to come into play, Vice President of Unscripted and Documentaries Brandon Riegg understands how much of a big deal having WWE on their streaming service is. "The truth is we don't know how much bigger it can get," Reigg said. "I think we're all really bullish on it, but we know that has an incredibly consistent audience for the last several decades. And so that's really first and foremost where we're starting at and then we'll see where we go from there."
WWE will provide 52 weeks of live programming for Netflix, the largest amount of live content the platform has ever dealt with. Netflix has produced live content in the past, but on sporadic occasions, notably a Chris Rock comedy special, The Netflix Cup, and the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards that takes place on February 24. Despite such a large undertaking in bringing WWE onboard, Reigg claimed it will be "a terrific tool in terms of expanding the portfolio."
Reigg also had this to say when it comes to the overall goal of having more live content on Netflix. "The hope is as we get more attuned to what people are responding to, it's like we'll have a better sense of the bigger event moments that we can make live." The acquisition of WWE programming will also mark the end of the WWE Network, the company's own streaming service that has been operational since 2014. It's still unclear whether the back catalog of WWE events, as well as the tape libraries of companies like WCW and ECW will also be transferred to Netflix.
Please credit "The Hollywood Reporter" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.