Netflix’s WWE partnership has been running for more than a year and a half, and the streaming giant appears to be getting exactly what it wanted from the deal. In fact, Netflix says WWE has already hit every metric it hoped for in the United States, while the bigger surprise has been how much potential the company is seeing internationally.
While speaking on The Sports Media Podcast, Netflix Vice President of Global Live Sports and Entertainment Gabe Spitzer was asked how Netflix actually measures whether its WWE partnership has been successful. Spitzer noted that WWE was the company’s first major live sports-entertainment deal and had nothing but praise for the people Netflix has been working with.
“Yeah, we’re now in year, almost like, almost two years in, but a little over a year and a half. And obviously this was our first big live, I would call live sports entertainment deal. Yeah, huge. You know, I’ve been, I’ve been a fan for a long time and, you know, great partners over there with people like Paul Levesque and Lee Fitting and Nick Khan. They’ve been great partners and I think we’re thrilled with the results so far.”
Netflix had a pretty good idea of what it expected from RAW in the United States. WWE already had a loyal audience that showed up every Monday, and the expectation was that those fans would follow the show when it moved to Netflix. According to Spitzer, that’s exactly what happened.
“We knew in the US, you know, with something like Raw, having that every week, there’s gonna be that passionate, loyal fan base and they’re gonna show up and they have come, you know, in expected ways, over to Netflix and in predictable ways.”
When it comes to whether those expectations have actually translated into success, Spitzer didn’t leave much room for interpretation.
“So it’s hit, you know, every metric that we’ve hoped for on the US side.”
The United States hasn’t actually been the most interesting part of the deal for Netflix, though. Spitzer said WWE’s performance internationally has surprised the company in a good way, and Netflix now sees those markets as the biggest opportunity to keep growing the partnership.
“I think the place where we’ve been surprised, in a good way and that will continue to grow, is outside of the US and that’s really where we see the potential to continue to grow this partnership.”
There’s also a major difference between what Netflix offers WWE fans in the United States and everywhere else. American subscribers get RAW, while Netflix is essentially the home of WWE in most of its international markets.
“In the US we have Raw only. Outside of the US, in most countries around the world, we’re the home for all of WWE. So, right, that’s Raw, that’s SmackDown, that’s NXT and that’s the big, you know, premium live events every month, be it WrestleMania, Royal Rumble or SummerSlam.”
That larger international footprint has opened up another part of the relationship. WWE and Netflix are now talking about where the company can bring events to help strengthen viewership in specific countries. Spitzer pointed to Italy as one example of WWE programming becoming available through Netflix and then being followed by a major premium live event in the country.
“And it’s been cool to see as different countries have come online. As an example, Italy this year came online and they did a big PLE, the Clash in Italy there shortly after.”
Those conversations are apparently going both ways. Spitzer said WWE has been asking Netflix which markets it wants to grow and whether bringing an event into those countries could help make that happen.
“So they’re working with us and they’re saying, ‘Hey, like, what are the countries you want to continue to grow? Or how can we boost that viewership? Or can we bring an event there?’”
That strategy is already showing up in WWE’s schedule. Spitzer pointed toward Australia, WWE’s repeated trips through Europe and an upcoming RAW in Mexico as examples of the company continuing to take major shows around the world.
“They’re going back to Australia this year, they’ve been to Europe a bunch of times. They’re going down to Mexico in just a couple weeks for, for a big Raw that we’re really excited about.”
For Netflix, that’s where the partnership has started becoming about more than simply moving WWE’s existing audience onto another platform. The next challenge is using WWE’s international reach to find people who weren’t necessarily part of that audience before.
“So that’s been the cool evolution of the partnership, is beyond just those predictable, loyal, passionate viewers, and there are a lot of ’em, to see how we can potentially bring new fans in around the world too.”
Netflix already expected WWE’s loyal American audience to follow RAW onto the platform, and that part of the deal has delivered across the board. What has Netflix more intrigued now is how much further WWE can grow internationally, especially when the two sides can use major events in specific countries to turn that global reach into new fans.
Do you think WWE’s partnership with Netflix has helped the company grow internationally? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
