WWE May Have New Deal With Hulu
It appears that WWE content will be staying on Hulu.
In recent weeks, subscribers to Hulu noticed that WWE content on the streaming platform was being tagged with expiry dates. The company’s social media team also confirmed that the programming was set to leave their platform, although they still hoped the content would stay in their library.
Hulu currently streams weekly episodes of Raw, SmackDown and NXT along with archived shows such as 205 Live and Total Bellas.
Hulu here! Our streaming rights to WWE content are currently set to expire, but we'll certainly share your interest in seeing them stay in our library with our team. For now, we suggest adding the shows in your My Stuff to be notified of any updates!
— Hulu Support (@hulu_support) September 21, 2023
While the tags originally stated the content was to leave at the end of September, it was later extended, with it being speculated that the two sides were trying to finalise a new deal.
Now, in good news for Hulu subscribers, WrestlingNews.co has reported that the expiration tags have been removed altogether, indicating that a deal has been reached to keep WWE shows on the platform for some time to come.
This is not the first time it has appeared that the two sides were having trouble reaching an extension as last year the same situation arose with content set to expire on September 25th.
Whether the new deal is another one-year extension of something more substantial remains to be seen.
WWE reach new media rights deal for Smackdown
In 2019, WWE signed a five-year deal that saw SmackDown broadcasting FOX. However, when that contract expires in September 2024, the blue brand will have a new home as it returns to USA Network.
The rights for Raw are still up for grabs, with there being a reported possibility that the show could move away from Monday nights as part of the new deal. This would seemingly be to allow the company to cut production costs.