Decider.com, a website dedicated to television and streaming services, is carrying an article quoting a recently-released analyst report that WWE might be taking some of its shows, including Raw and Smackdown to Facebook.
Currently, both Raw and Smackdown air on USA Network as part of a deal that expires in September 2019. WWE had high hopes of securing millions in television rights money before the deal was signed but the ultimate price was – even though much more than the previous one – much less than WWE had hoped for. The deal eventually took a hit on WWE stocks which nose dived mainly because WWE kept hyping up to the investors the fact that they would get much more.
“We believe WWE is being significantly underpaid in its current Raw / SmackDown deal,” BTIG analyst Brandon Ross wrote in the new report. “Facebook, Twitter and Amazon are all experimenting with live programming, including major sports programming, such as Thursday Night Football and MLB games.” Ross suggests that since these brands are being aggressive in bidding for sports, WWE might be able to gain from this streaming war.
