WWE SmackDown Moves to Fox in 2019 in Landmark TV Deal for $1 Billion

In 2019, WWE SmackDown moves to Fox, in a massive TV deal that will see Fox paying WWE $1 billion over 5 years.

Initially reported by Darren Rovell on ESPN, WWE has struck a huge deal with Fox that will see SmackDown moving to Fox on Friday nights upon the end of their TV deal with USA in 2019. Rovell indicated that not much is currently known about the deal. However, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the deal is for 5 years, and for about $1 billion total.

The Hollywood Reporter also indicated that there was a 3rd party that apparently offered a bigger deal. While the 3rd party is unknown, I can only speculate that it was Facebook or Amazon, who were also reportedly in negotiations for the show. WWE going with Fox keeps SmackDown on traditional TV and puts them in more homes than they were on the USA Network.

Analysis

There are several important questions that arise out of this deal. The first is the elephant in the room: What about Raw? While it seems likely that USA would want to keep Raw, and let SmackDown go so they could offer a bigger money deal for Raw, WWE still might move Raw.

While USA wants to keep Raw, WWE has said nothing about keeping Raw there. I imagine the negotiations for Raw are in full force at the moment. If Fox are offering that much for SmackDown, it is not inconceivable that they are also going to offer a massive deal to take Raw away from USA.

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This deal marks the first time that wrestling is on a major network, and if Raw stays where it is, it’s not hard to imagine SmackDown becoming the primary show for WWE. Due to more exposure on Fox, it’s possible that SmackDown will see big ratings increases, especially with increased advertising on other Fox shows.

Regardless of what happens with Raw, this is a remarkable TV deal. WWE is looking to make historic amounts of money over the next few years.