Shares of TKO Group Holdings Inc. rose. toward record gains on Tuesday, after the parent company of World Wrestling Entertainment and the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a deal with Netflix Inc. Through which WWE “Raw” will be shown exclusively on the streaming service.
The deal, for a rights fee of more than $5 billion, represents a major shift in programming as weekly “Raw” will leave linear television for the first time since its debut 31 years ago.
“This transaction is transformative,” said Mark Shapiro, TKO’s chief operating officer. “It combines WWE's can't-miss product with Netflix's exceptional global reach and delivers significant, predictable economics for many years.”
The agreement extends for an initial period of 10 years. Netflix will have the option to extend the deal for an additional 10 years, and cancel the subscription after the first five years.
TKO TKO Stock,
The company's stock rose 22.7% in morning trading, putting it on track to surpass the current record one-day gain of 20% set on December 31, 1999.
Netflix NFLX shares,
Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. shares rose. EDR of 0.6%.
TKO, which holds a controlling stake in TKO, jumped 5.3% to its highest level in 15 months.
Starting in January 2025, “Raw” will stream exclusively on Netflix in the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, with additional countries added over time.
Netflix will also exclusively show all WWE shows and specials outside the US when available, including “SmackDown” and “NXT,” as well as “WrestleMania,” “SummerSlam” and “Royal Rumble.”
“We are excited to have WWE rawWith its massive, multi-generational fan base, on Netflix,” said Bela Bajaria, chief content officer at Netflix. “By combining our reach, recommendations and fanbase with WWE, we will be able to deliver even more entertainment and value to their fans and our members.”
TKO said WWE's “Raw” is currently the top show on USA Network. Meanwhile, shares of Comcast Corp.CMCSA rose,
Shares of NBCUniversal, which operates USA, rose 0.5%.
TKO stock is up 7.5% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX is up 20.8%.
