WWE Expected to Launch Docuseries and Other Programming in First Year of Netflix Deal

WWE's $5 billion dollar Netflix deal goes into effect in January 2025.

By Haley Miller

In the beginning of 2025 WWE's deal with Netflix to bring Raw to the streaming service officially goes into effect. Until then, Raw will remain on USA Network where it will be joined by SmackDown for the first time since 2019. The deal, which will see WWE taken in $5 billion dollars over 10 years, has an option to extend an additional decade or opt out after five years. But the deal isn't just for the flagship weekly programming. According to TKO COO Mark Shapiro, there are plans to bring other content to the service that will also help bring more eyes to WWE.

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Speaking at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on Monday, Shapiro revealed that they are looking to have "a lot of ancillary shoulder programming" like documentaries and a reality show. The content would be akin to the F1 Drive to Survive series that was released by Netflix in 2019 which helped bolster F1's popularity and bring in a whole new audience.

"... they [Netflix] will do more of those roasts. That [the Brady special] was too much of a hit. But yes, it is contemplated in our deal," Shapiro explained. "We will do a lot of ancillary and shoulder programming and I think the very first genre you'll see out of WWE in terms of ancillary programming will be a Drive to Survive show. That's contemplated for the first season and we'll also do some documentaries probably on a few of our superstars. Our current deal is up at the end of the year for WWE but I would expect to see a Drive to Survive-type show next year, to go along with the first of our live telecasts" (h/t: POST Wrestling).

In January, WWE President Nick Khan stated that he believes a documentary like that would only bring great things for the company. It would be a mistake by us at WWE to not do that with Netflix," Khan said on Bloomberg TV. "Assume that what you said is exactly what we're all thinking, we being Netflix and WWE, you saw what Drive To Survive did for Formula One, we think the WWE audience, already big on a global level, only gets bigger with a show like that."

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When asked about the potential to create things outside of Raw, Khan noted they have a "treasure trove" of intellcutial property that's largely untapped. That being the many WWE superstars that have come and gone over the years, some of which have been involved in films and television in the past. Bianca Belair and Montez Ford, for example, spearheaded their own reality show on Hulu earlier this year. 

"Keep in mind, at WWE, we have a whole treasure trove of intellectual property that is largely untouched," he continued. "If you look at what Disney has done, certainly that was through acquisitions with Marvel and Lucas Film; if you look at what Warner Brothers Discovery did when they acquired DC a long time ago, you now have this treasure trove at Netflix that is available to produce. So things like the Undertaker, characters that have been created over time, we're looking forward to getting all of that with Netflix as well." 

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