One of the biggest sagas in wrestling towards the end of 2023 was tracking where exactly WWE's weekly shows will end up next as its current deals for all three end later this year. SmackDown will return to the USA Network, NXT is headed to The CW, but nothing about where Raw might air once its current deal ends was revealed. The race between various network and streaming giants has now officially come to an end, and Netflix has been crowned the winner.

Raw Is Coming To Netflix

That's right, starting in January 2025, Raw will stream live exclusively on Netflix. Not only in the US, but also Canada, the UK, Latin America, and other parts of the world over time as the deal progresses, reports Variety. Even better news for fans outside of the US is from January 2025, Netflix will be the home for all weekly WWE programming. That includes SmackDown and NXT, and even premium live events such as WrestleMania and Royal Rumble.

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According to Variety, WWE's deal with Netflix is rumored to be worth $400 million per year, so a significant step up from the $250 USA has been paying for it, and run for more than five years. If true, that makes the deal worth north of $2 billion. There are conflicting reports on that front, though. Sports Business Journal reports WWE's deal with Netflix will run for ten years and is actually worth an eye-watering $5 billion.

The Transition

There is one question about the deal and Raw's future that remains unanswered. WWE's deal with USA comes to an end in October 2024, but the Netflix deal won't begin until January 2025. It's currently unknown where Raw will air in the three-month period where it now no longer has a home. The promotion may strike up some sort of extension so the red brand isn't homeless for the last few months of 2024, or perhaps the Netflix deal will be brought forward in the US.

The significance of this deal really can't be understated. Not just because of how much it costs, but because of the reach WWE will now have worldwide and the ease with which so many more fans will be able to watch weekly shows. At last count, Netflix had just shy of 250 million subscribers worldwide. That's a heck of a lot of homes Raw will be beamed into starting next year, and its other weekly shows outside of the US.