Ari Emanuel Weighs In On The TV Rights for WWE Programming

As previously reported, WWE Smackdown will move to the USA Network in 2024 as part of a new TV rights deal with NBCUniversal. RAW and NXT were not included in the deal and their status has yet to be confirmed. In an interview with Bloomberg (via Post Wrestling), Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel spoke about the WWE television media rights and said plenty of networks are interested in RAW. Here are highlights:

On the WWE TV rights: “We got a 40% increase for SmackDown. We have Raw, which is the number one package available. There are three big rights coming available to market; WWE Raw, UFC, NBA. We are involved in two of them. There are six buyers. Plus, I would say WWE Network, which is up in 2026. You cannot undervalue WWE and UFC for the following reasons: One, we do not have a season. One of the biggest issues that will happen with s-mods and network is churn. We’re 52 weeks a year, and we’re flexible. If you want us Thursday night, if you want us Tuesday night, I don’t have any of those schedule issues. That churn issue, because we’re the full year, is so much different from any other sport because then people churn out. That’s one of the issues with sports. Not in a bad way. (You sign up for the NFL), and then the package is over, and then you leave. Our fans are loyal, they stick around, and they move.”

On if the NBA rights deal needs to be settled first: “No. I would say there is plenty of interest with Raw right now. I know people are like, ‘NBC is out of the mix,’ and that’s why [the stock] went down. I think there are three things that happened. One, the reason the stock is down is they thought Raw is the best package. I thought a 40% increase, which was in line with expectations, was good. Two, the PFL situation, and three, probably Vince [Vince McMahon], in our deal, wanted to be able to put, at any point in time, his stock. He’s 78-years-old and been at this for decades and decades. Those three back-to-back issues….”

On WWE working with Saudi Arabia: “I would say, I didn’t want them (Saudi Arabia) — at the time, we weren’t public in our investors stack, okay? I said it on many podcasts about my feelings about the situation. I didn’t say we would never be doing business in Saudi. I just didn’t want them in the financial stack of our investors. We distribute their now-soccer league through IMG. Because of WWE, we’re in business with them for at least five years. Two events a year, great. They just bought an event from us for the UFC. Great price, we’re doing the event. It will be an unbelievable card. So, I just, at the time, didn’t feel comfortable for many reasons which has been stated. But we’re in business with them now. So, that simple.”