WWE SmackDown to return to USA Community
Shinsuke Nakamura and Karrion Kross wrestle through the WWE SmackDown at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on Could 05, 2023 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.(
Gladys Vega | Getty Pictures Sport | Getty Pictures
WWE’s “Friday Evening SmackDown” will return to USA Community in October 2024 as a part of a five-year home media rights partnership between TKO Group Holdings and NBCUniversal, the corporate mentioned Thursday.
Shares of TKO dropped greater than 14% following the announcement.
The deal comes out to a median of $287 million per yr, a complete worth of over $1.4 billion, individuals acquainted with the matter informed CNBC. WWE doesn’t count on to succeed in a rights settlement for its flagship present “Uncooked” till subsequent yr.
“SmackDown” has been on Fox since October 2019, with a rights settlement for $205 million per yr in a five-year deal. The brand new settlement is roughly a 40% improve. “SmackDown” final appeared on USA Community from 2016 to 2019.
WWE is a element of of TKO Group Holdings, which was created after a merger between WWE and Endeavor’s UFC. TKO started buying and selling on the NYSE final week.
WWE may also produce 4 primetime specials per yr to air on NBC starting within the 2024-2025 season.
“It is a privilege and thrill to proceed NBCU’s decades-long partnership with WWE which has helped cement USA Community’s constant place because the top-rated cable leisure community in stay viewership,” mentioned Frances Berwick, chairman of NBCUniversal Leisure. “With Friday nights on USA, primetime specials on NBC, and the WWE hub on Peacock, we’ll proceed to make use of the ability of our portfolio to super-serve this passionate fanbase.”
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the father or mother firm of CNBC.
