Netflix India Preparing to Enter WWE Ring with Sports Entertainment Foray

WWE, the powerhouse of sports entertainment, is gearing towards transferring its media rights from Sony Pictures Networks India to Netflix India as part of the worldwide 10-year, USD 5 billion agreement between TKO Group Holdings and the streaming platform earlier in the year.

The move, however, will be in effect from March 2025 when WWE's contract with SPNI is set to expire. In 2020, WWE signed its media rights again with SPNI upwards of USD180-USD210 million for five years.

According to sources familiar with the situation, SPNI has been eager to retain TV rights despite the global deal with Netflix, as the property hasn't performed well on the streaming platform during the current rights cycle. However, Netflix is intent on maintaining exclusivity in the Indian market, they added.

With this partnership, Netflix is entering the sports entertainment sphere in India. While Netflix has been invested in live sports globally, including the National Football League, it avoided doing so in India for years despite cricket being a major sport in India, which is the most-watched sport in the country across both television and digital platforms. A Netflix India spokesperson confirmed that WWE content would be available on the platform starting in 2025, but SPNI did not wish to comment on the matter.

Since 2002, WWE programming has been aired on Ten Sports in India. It was acquired in 2016 by SPNI from Zee Entertainment for a whopping USD385 million, after which it was rebranded Sony Ten. More than 20 years and counting WWE's partnership with Ten Sports and Sony Sports.

From January 2025 onwards, Netflix will be the sole streaming platform for WWE's core shows of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT  in major regions such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South America. The agreement is set to be effective in India, a major market for WWE in terms of its global ambitions, by April 2025.

Explaining the sports property strategy that Netflix pursues, as recently stated by co-CEO Ted Sarandos. According to him, the platform intends to pursue unique sports with global reach as well as appeal to younger audiences. He added sports leagues also seek to attract global and younger audiences for long-term success.

Although, experts say that transitioning WWE’s loyal audience from linear television to subscription-based streaming services would be a big challenge, especially in India, which still dominates 900 million TV viewers compared to 547 million streaming users.

This partnership would be a great gain for Netflix India, which is currently serving 12 million subscribers, toward increasing its subscriber base. WWE fans aligned with Netflix, promise to boost the subscription base significantly.