New Home For WWE SmackDown Confirmed

WWE SmackDown is leaving FOX after five years.

WWE is undergoing some major changes of late with the company now merged with UFC under the TKO Group banner following the takeover of the company by Endeavor. That brought an end to forty years of majority ownership of the sports entertainment giant by Vince McMahon who became Executive Chairman of TKO Group when the deal was finalised on September 12th.

The company had been in negotiations over their media rights and it looked like SmackDown’s home on FOX could be in some jeopardy. Now WWE has confirmed in a press release that SmackDown is going back to the future with its new home.

Where is WWE SmackDown going to air?

The release states that TKO Group and NBC Universal have agreed to a new five-year deal that will see SmackDown return to the USA Network beginning in October 2024. The deal will also see the company produce four specials a year for NBC primetime.

Nick Khan appears to confirm that the show will remain on Friday nights following the move from FOX – during SmackDown’s previous stint on USA it had aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays:

“We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”

This deal does not include the rights for WWE Raw or NXT which also air on the USA Network although deals for those will also be up in September 2024 and it remains to be seen if both properties will stay put.