Why SmackDown Deal Could Mark Big Decrease For WWE

SmackDown could be on its way to becoming a three-hour show and that could mean WWE haven’t got the deal they thought they had.

On September 13th, SmackDown premiered on the USA Network after spending five years on FOX. The move is part of a huge reshuffle across WWE with NXT jumping to the CW Network on October 1st, and Raw heading to Netflix in January 2025.

Following that a report emerged nothing that SmackDown will become a three-hour show in January 2025 when Raw heads to Netflix with SmackDown being WWE’s only show on the network at that point.

WWE had noted that their new deal with the USA Network was an increase on the company’s deal with FOX for SmackDown but if the three-hour runtime is true, that might not be the case.

WWE SmackDown Deal A Decrease?

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the possibility of SmackDown going to three hours with Meltzer noting that if WWE’s announced deal with USA Network was for a three-hour show then it actually marks a decrease from the company’s landmark deal with FOX:

For WWE, the idea of SmackDown for 279 million a year for three hours, that’s not an increase, that’s actually per hour a lower number than they were getting on FOX. So they were trying to tout this as a 40% increase and it’s not if they’re going three hours. Certainly, it was touted as a 40% increase.

I don’t know if they’re going three hours, I asked the other day and the basic thing was both the time of Raw and the time of SmackDown are absolutely being discussed but there is no announcement to be made. From a USA Network standpoint, three hours makes all the sense in the world.

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