What’s Next on Netflix’s Sports Horizon After WWE Deal Brings Sports Entertainment to Service?
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has indicated the company wants more live events for its streamer. Which sports make sense?
The Netflix live programming lineup is about to get more “Raw.” Ahead of its release of its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report, Netflix announced it had struck a deal to secure the rights to the WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” for 10 years, starting in 2025. Is this just the beginning of a new phase in live sports streaming for Netflix?
- Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts and investors on Tuesday that the streamer wants to expand its live programming.
- Sarandos also indicated the acquisition of WWE rights does not necessarily indicate a larger shift in its philosophy regarding spots.
- In the past, Netflix has been connected to Formula 1 Racing, NBA basketball, and has produced and streamed its own live celebrity golf tournament.
Does Netflix Want Live Sports, or Not?
When speaking with Wall Street analysts to discuss his company’s fourth quarter 2023 earnings, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was clearly excited about the new deal with the wrestling promotion, but he made sure to specify that he didn’t think of it as a sports deal first-and-foremost, but an entertainment deal for a program with sports themes. For both legal and branding reasons, the WWE has always billed itself as “sports entertainment,” and Sarandos was careful to honor the distinction when speaking with analysts.
“‘WWE Raw’ is sports entertainment, which is right in the sweet spot of our sports business, which is the drama of sport,” he said. “Think of this as 52 weeks of live programming every week, every year. It feeds our desire to expand our live event programming … I would not look at this as a signal of any other change or any change to our sports strategy.”
There’s a lot to unpack there, but on its face, Sarandos clearly wants to show that the WWE deal doesn’t change Netflix’s conservative philosophy when it comes to pursuing more live sports. However, his stated desire to see more live events on the service would seem to indicate that the company wouldn’t pass up live sports rights if they fit within the company’s financial goals. Other past live events on Netflix include a stream of Chris Rock’s standup show “Selective Outrage” and a “Love is Blind” reunion special.
What Sports Has Netflix Been Connected to in the Past?
Another reason to think that Netflix isn’t completely opposed to adding more live sports is that it has gone after such events in the past. In 2022, reports circulated that Netflix was bidding to acquire Formula 1 Racing rights, though it eventually lost to ESPN.
Ratings have slipped for Formula 1 events since ESPN acquired them, however, and they’ll go up for sale again in 2025. Will Netflix renew its interest at that time? It’s certainly possible, particularly as the streamer is still host to the Formula 1 docuseries “Drive to Survive,” which ties it to the racing league more closely than other sports.
What about the NBA? That league’s current broadcast deal expires after the 2024-25 season, and Netflix had reportedly shown interest in getting the rights to its new In-Season Tournament in November. While there was no official denial from the company that it wanted live NBA games, further reports indicated that while the streamer was interested in creating an NBA docuseries similar to “Drive to Survive,” it did not want actual tournament games.
PGA Golf is another partner of Netflix’s, at least in the docuseries category. Netflix is home to the “Full Swing” series, which embeds itself with professional golfers and even lent some of its top performers to the “Netflix Cup” celebrity golf tournament, which featured players from “Full Swing” and “Drive to Survive,” and became Netflix’s first-ever live sporting event.
In The Streamable’s expert opinion, these are the sports Netflix would be most likely to pursue next, because of its familiarity with their leagues and because of the availability of their broadcasting rights. The PGA’s rights are the messiest to untangle as of now, as the golf tour is currently in talks to merge with the controversial LIV Golf. If that merger goes ahead, it’s hard to forecast what will happen to the new entity’s TV and streaming rights. These are the sports leagues with the deepest ties to Netflix or who have had contact with the streamer about collaborating most recently, and that’s why we’re keeping an eye on them specifically as potential partners of Netflix.
Netflix clearly sees its deal with WWE as a sports entertainment venture, not a purely sports one. But that doesn’t mean it can’t pursue more live sports in the future, and its connections to Formula 1 Racing, the NBA, and the PGA make those the most likely candidates for Netflix to expand into pure sports livestreams if it chooses to do so.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.