Summary

The full 2019-2024 media rights agreements for WWE Raw and SmackDown are now public through the WWE merger shareholder lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery, giving a clearer look at how the company structured its television relationships with NBCUniversal and FOX.

Under the Raw agreement, the deal ran from October 2019 through September 2024 and paid WWE $265 million per year for the show to air on USA Network, with the fees increasing over the life of the contract. The SmackDown agreement covered the same period and paid WWE $205 million per year.

The contracts also included language limiting the broadcasters from carrying other pro wrestling programming. NBCUniversal agreed not to air non-WWE wrestling content across its platforms, while the FOX agreement included similar protections for WWE with carveouts for sports and combat properties such as UFC, Bellator, amateur wrestling, collegiate wrestling and Glory kickboxing.

What The Contracts Gave WWE

The agreements made clear that WWE retained final control over the creative direction of both shows. NBCUniversal had consultation rights on production and creative matters for Raw, but WWE kept the final say.

The Raw contract also prevented major format changes that would have undercut the value of the program NBCUniversal was paying for. One example written into the deal was that Raw could not be materially changed into something like a highlights show for SmackDown.

On the SmackDown side, FOX was also contractually required to promote the show in a manner consistent with how it marketed properties such as the NFL, MLB and NASCAR. The FOX term sheet further stated that FOX would be WWE's exclusive broadcast partner, and that Raw could not air on NBC during the life of the agreement. NBCUniversal was allowed to carry Spanish-language replays of Raw on Telemundo.

What This Means For WWE Raw And SmackDown

WWE's leverage in those deals mattered because Raw and SmackDown were protected as major weekly properties, with both broadcasters committing significant rights fees and promotional support. The language around exclusivity and creative control also shows how strongly WWE positioned its television products before the current era, where Raw now airs on Netflix, SmackDown is back on USA Network and NXT airs on The CW.

Another notable point is that WWE held the option in renewal talks to offer NBCUniversal either a two-hour or three-hour version of Raw. That detail underlines how much flexibility WWE had when the company moved toward its next round of media rights negotiations.

Sources

As reported by Wrestlenomics.