TKO Boss Vows WWE Won’t Abandon Broadcast Partner
WWE is on the verge of beginning its new deal with ESPN, but a top boss at TKO has vowed they’ll stick by another broadcast partner.
WWE entered a whole new world when Raw made its debut on Netflix as part of a billion-dollar deal in early 2025. But little did anyone know at that time that WWE was not stopping there.
Many expected full streaming rights to head to Netflix when the company’s PLE deal ended with Peacock, but ESPN swooped in to sign another billion-dollar deal for PLE rights in the United States. That deal kicks off with Wrestlepalooza on September 20th, which will see Brock Lesnar clash with John Cena.
With the Peacock deal now done and WWE looking more and more to streaming platforms for major money, TKO boss Mark Shapiro has revealed that there’s one broadcast partner they want to stick with.
WWE Sticking With Comcast
Speaking on The Varsity, Shapiro noted that WWE wants to stick with Comcast, which owns the USA Network and Peacock, as long as the company wants to work with them:
Our main stuff sits in a good place. ESPN has the PLEs. Comcast, who has all the history with WWE, we’re not going to leave them as long as they want to be with us, has SmackDown on USA. Now, Netflix has picked up the world with Raw and the premium live events.
We’ve narrowed it down. We look for different opportunities to find new audiences, and that’s what drove our NXT development league with CW. It’s a combination. You’re looking to maximize dollars, but you also want to maximize reach, audience, and what’s the right fit for your brand.