Vince McMahon shocked the world when he announced his return to WWE to facilitate a sale of the company, and on April 3rd, it was announced that WWE would be merging with UFC to form a new $21+ billion entity under parent company Endeavor.
With news of the company changing ownership, discussion has begun regarding WWE’s media rights negotiations despite the fact that current deals are in place until 2024. The sports entertainment giant currently has deals in place with both NBC Universal and FOX.
Speaking on SI Media with Jimmy Traina, longtime media journalist James Andrew Miller spoke about the sale and what it might mean in terms of changes to the company’s programming. When asked if other companies are interested in partnering with WWE, Miller responded:
“I think so. I wouldn’t be surprised, despite the fact that money is such an issue for them, I wouldn’t be surprised if Warner Brothers Discovery wouldn’t like a slice of that WWE pie. It doesn’t have to be on Monday night. Monday night is a tough night. If you go through the calendar, all year round, there are sports on Monday night. If you’re Warner Brothers Discovery, you could say, ‘we’re going to move it to a different night. We have Thursday night with the NBA, but we’re going to figure out a different night for it,’ and all of a sudden it becomes very attractive.”
When it was pointed out that Warner Bros Discovery currently has a deal in place with rival organization AEW, Miller continued, revealing that there are people within the organization interested in a deal with WWE, but also noting that any deal could be squashed before it begins if one of WWE’s current partners makes an enticing offer.
“I know there are people at Warner Brothers who are interested (in the WWE). If they were to lose the NBA, I would certainly imagine they would become a pretty big advocate for buying something. That would create quite the auction. Unless it’s taken off. If either Fox or NBC comes in with a pre-emptive offer that WWE likes, they [WBD] won’t even get a chance.”
Could WWE Change Its Longtime Programming Schedule Under A New Deal?
Continuing, Miller was asked if company president Nick Khan, who was instrumental in moving premium live events to Saturdays as opposed to Sundays, had any ideas about moving Raw from its longtime position as a pillar of Monday night programming. While Miller said he hadn’t heard anything to that effect from Khan’s side of things, if a potential buyer wants Raw on a different night, the company is under no obligation to stick to Mondays.
“I have not heard Nick advocate that. My point is, if a buyer comes in and doesn’t want Monday night, that Monday package is mobile. There is no reason why it has to be Monday night.”
AEW’s current deal with Warner Brothers Discovery will expire at the end of 2023.
h/t Fightful